Is dual channel worth bothering with if I cant find a new stick?

[thewalrusking]

I have Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1 gb 6400 ddr2 - BL12864AL804. Its hard finding a new stick places and I was wondering if buying an Identical stick to run in dual channel is it worth the trouble? And if I were to pass on that and get another 1gb stick from a decent manufacturer whats a good choice? Do I stick to the 4-4-4 timing or even the same line?

I wish I just sprang for two of the same ones earlier.

 

[rockbyter]

Wouldnt hurt to put in any other good stick. Run your memory at the timings and speed of the slower stick. Finding one at 4-4-4-12 800 is pretty easy, and cheap.

 

[Mondoman]

rb is right.

 

[thewalrusking]

Ok I bought this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220142

Patriot Extreme Performance 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

I looked around (i usually research pc parts alot but this seemed pretty good, and it was rated to work on my board.)

So is dual rate noticeable or is it marginal?

Thank you very much.

 

[Mondoman]

Depends on your CPU as to whether it is noticeable or not. All dual-channel mode does is allow the memory transfers to keep up with the FSB (assuming you've got an Intel CPU). Otherwise, DDR2-800 RAM would only be fast enough to keep a 800MHz FSB filled; in dual-channel mode DDR2-800 can keep up to a 1600MHz FSB filled.