Any benefit from a 3rd Gig of RAM?

[Worf101]

I had to RMA a matched set of Patriot RAM back to the company (NewEgg wouldn't do it as I'd lost the original packaging... note to all keep the packaging no matter what) and this took about a month!!! In order to keep flying I bought a single 1 Gig stick of RAM for meantimes. Now the RMA RAM is back, do I:

1. Run 2 Gigs like before in a matched pair

2. Run 3 gigs of RAM same speed same timings?

My current rig:

AMD Athlon 64Fx-60
HIS X1950 Pro AGP Version 2
Asus A8V Deluxe VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset ATX AMD MB
2 Gig of Patriot 3200 unbuffered Ram
2 Western Digital 74 Gig Raptors in Raid 0
DVD ASUS 16X DVD
DVD+/-RW PLEXTOR|PX-712A
CPU FAN Thermaltake Silentboost K8
Cooler Master Stacker 830 RC-830-SSN2-GP Full Tower
BFG 650 Watt PSU
SB Audigy 2Z Platinum Sound Card
Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20.1 Wide Flat Panel

Thanks in advance..

Da Worfster

 

[alcattle]

it looks like you have DDR RAM so you donot have to run in pairs. Check the MB manual for which slots to use.

 

[Shadow703793]

3 GB is of, but are you running a x64 OS? Other wise there is a memory limitation.

 

[derek2006]

I think the memory limitation is after 3 gigs. I would go with option 2. More ram is always better.

 

[pmr]

it looks like you have DDR RAM so you donot have to run in pairs. Check the MB manual for which slots to use.

WTF???

@ the op: It depends on what programs you use, how often and how late you are to complete a job.
If you are using vista or will use it in a near future, 3 gigs will make it smoother as it is a memory hog.

 

[alcattle]

saw 3200 and figure it was DDR, might be wrong, again

 

[pmr]

saw 3200 and figure it was DDR, might be wrong, again

And what's the problem on being DDR? They run in dual channel. What are u trying to say?

 

[picho]

DDR can run in dual.

You may want to run some benchies to see if your latency/throughput are suffering with 3GB vs. 2GB. Even if they do, 3GB may be better depending on what you do with your machine.

 

[rquinn19]

I started with 1 gig bought 2 more thinking id sell the first gig but i had to keep it. performance is so much better. xp and vista. i have 1 gig running in dual channel and the other 2 gigs running dual channel as well. windows shows 2.81 gigs. sometimes 2.86 i dont know why though. someone said something before about windows allocating the extra ram to other things.

 

[alcattle]

ok, I guess I have no idea what I am thinking, so I will shup up now and go to sleep.

 

[biohazard420420]

Well since I am buying 3 gigs for my new build I would say run the 3 gigs you may or may not see any performance benefit but it will however give you more ram headroom. I am going to be running ddr2 though so I have matched pair of 2gb and another matched pair of 1gb. I would make sure the timings and speed are the same on both of your sets though.

 

[Worf101]

I installed all three. I am running straight DDR as of right now. The RAM is all "matched" and I'm running the same latencys. Ran Memtest for about 4 hours, no hiccups no BSOD error messages. Running smooth as Baby Snot so I guess I'll run it like this for a while.

Da Worfster

 

[Newf]

I installed all three. I am running straight DDR as of right now. The RAM is all "matched" and I'm running the same latencys. Ran Memtest for about 4 hours, no hiccups no BSOD error messages. Running smooth as Baby Snot so I guess I'll run it like this for a while.
Da Worfster

Check the performance tab in Task Manager. If your peak commit charge is much above 1.5GB, then the 3rd dimm makes sense. Otherwise, your system will run faster using 2 sticks in dual channel mode. You give up dual channel with the use of that 3rd stick. There is no point in running a 3rd module that's not being used and by being there slows your system down.

 

[Eviltwin17]

i dont think you will see any huge difference in performance from running 2 in a pair or 3 at same settings. 3gb should help system responsiveness though, but you should be fine running 3 sticks instead of 4. I hope i answered your question.

 

[Newf]

i dont think you will see any huge difference in performance from running 2 in a pair or 3 at same settings. 3gb should help system responsiveness though, but you should be fine running 3 sticks instead of 4. I hope i answered your question.

Only if your system is using it. If not, what's the point? Dual channel operation was the main reason AMD switched from socket 754 to 939. It's about a 7-8% overall speed gain.

 

[pmr]

It's about time the OP to say what programs he is running. If he doesn't need more than 2 gigs (games, office apps, etc) then, dual channel is better. If editing massive photos in photoshop or video editing, 3 Gb are better.

 

[Worf101]

Sorry, I hit the wrong tab. Someone asked me what Apps I'm using? Just games and music. No photoediting except the occaisional plane skin.

Da Worfster

 

[AdamBomb42]

Your better off running 2gigs in dual-channel rather than 3gigs in single-channel.

 

[pmr]

Sorry, I hit the wrong tab. Someone asked me what Apps I'm using? Just games and music. No photoediting except the occaisional plane skin.

Da Worfster

So, go dual channel.

 

[Eru]

Dual channel all the way!
The 3rd stick will bring down the memory bandwidth to half.