Until we do get a real expert in here, I will give it a shot as I have been looking into this matter myself for the past few weeks.

Most reviews and forums I've read say that using only 2 Dimms is more stable than using all 4. This also allows for easier overclocking if that is necessary. In addition, less heat is produced.

2x2gb Modules at timings and frequencies on par with 2x1gb modules are few and far between, and come at a high premium.

For stability and overclocking purposes, I myself will be purchasing a 2x2gb. I just cant decide on which brand! Pobably Mushkin.

You can of course still go with 4x1gbmodules and use all 4 Dimms, but some Mobos will require you to tweak some settings in order to cooperate.

I've never had anyone suggest 4x1gb over 2x2gb unless EXTREMELY tight timings and high frequencies were required. You won't see much of a difference, IF ANY, from 4-4-4-12 to 5-5-5-15, especially on an intel.

I hope that helps, even though I'm not an expert!

Good luck.

beurling is correct I believe also...

To my understanding the main issue with 4*1 modules is OC...Any case should dissipate the heat easily...

I personally went with 4*1 due to price, I don’t care about the milliseconds difference in speed ill gain... its not worth the $ more you need to spend.

I would have to agree but I would like to see some hard info on the topic. Most motherboards will not offer the settings in bios to deal with the 4 dimm and overclocking also. Like right now I have my 2x1gb Firestix DDR800@1000 with 4-5-4-9-12 timings but if the bios didn't offer various drive strength settings in dram menu then this would be impossible, but boy do they fly. 10800 in sandra and around 10000 in everest.

I heard that these 2 are probably some of the best out there:

OCZ Gold 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

This question has come up before in several other forums but there has never been a good clear answer. Overclocking, upgrdability, and temp. aside, I would suspect that 4x1 would be slightly faster than 2x2 because there would be more interleaving. Interleaving means that the data is spread out across more memory chips. While some chips are waiting for their CAS timing cycle to complete, data access can occur from the other chips.

The thing is, it really depends on the the northbridge implementation. The NB must be able to take advantage of interleaving across 4 DIMMs and I don't know which NBs do and which don't. I suspect the most of the Xeon NBs can interleave across 4 DIMMs, in fact most of those NBs require DIMMs to be installed in groups of four. I'm not sure about the consumer NB lines such as P35, 965, and nForce 680i, the answer could be different for each chipset...

I know this does not directly answer your question. I am quite certain that 4x1 will never be slower than 2x2, it will either be the same or faster if the NB supports 4 way interleave.

I was having some issues with my 4*1 ram config in Vista64.

Two days ago I discovered there was a BIOS update that addresses the issue. After flashing the BIOS all 4 sticks run beautifully together.

LONG story short… make sure you have an up to date BIOS, which is pretty much general knowledge.

Thats only for FB-DIMM's, desktop ram is different.

General rule of thumb - least sticks, and most matching/matched.

2x2gb will give you your 4gb, Intels FSB and Cache design makes lower latency ram less necicary (not as much of a gain as an AMD based system) and 2x2gb will also give you the option later down the track to add more ram to your rig.

The big question is, are you overclocking?

4x1GB is better value, but 2x2Gb is easier to OC and provides a path for future RAM upgrades. If you want to overclock I would make sure you get memory with Micron D9 modules http://ramlist.ath.cx/ddr2/. There aren't many Micron based 2x2GB kits, and they are more expensive.

I picked up my 2 sets of Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC2-6400 for ~ $90 after shipping (4GB total). Crucial is Micron's memory brand, so you always get Micron. When going from 2x1GB to 4X1GB, the only settings I had to tweak for overclocking were NB and VTT voltages.

P.S. - Just saw that there is a Mushkin set of 2x2GB w/ D9s for $144, that seems reasonable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820146726

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