3 - 1 gig sticks or a 2 plus a 1 gig?

[luckydriver]

M4A785TD board says you can mix memory sizes on channels A and B so is it better to buy just a 2 gig and a one gig stick so just one channel is full or should i buy three 1 gig sticks of 1066?

 

[tecmo34]

In the end, isn't actually cheaper for you to buy a 4GB set (2x2GB) over 3GB triple-channel set or two individual sticks? This would be what I would recommend over your two options even on a 32-bit setup.

If you only have those two options, I support the triple-channel set so each stick is equal across the board.

 

[luckydriver]

newegg prices for 1066 kingston

1 gig = 24
2 - 47
2x1 = 50
3x1 = 75
2x2 = 96

so prices are relatively linear and the only decision is what is going to work out best for me. i dont ever see myself buying more than 3 gigs because of the windows limit and i wont be getting 64 bit

 

[luckydriver]

I've been trying to read up on the limitation and i see windows uses some of that 4th gig of ram to do stuff so we cant use it. fine

so if i only have 3 gigs of ram does windows use that same amount of space, thus making my 3 gigs less than 3 gigs, in effect?

if so then 4 gigs is a no brainer.

however, upon further thought, since the RAM is priced with no benefit to buying more/getting cheaper, i think i'll start with 2 1 gig sticks and if i need more just buy more later. RAM only gets cheaper right?

 

[luckydriver]

i decided on 2 gigs now. i'm thrilled with the speed i got with my x4 2.9, my new m477atd and my 3 gig sata. The HD alone got my bootup from over 10 min to 2 to 4 min

 

[tecmo34]

WOW... that is a great improvement from 10 min down to 2 to 4 min.

 

[luckydriver]

it sure is a great improvement but it was the HD not the RAM, as i was running the entire new setup with IDE for a few days and had no bootup improvment. Just faster start to individual programs and mundane things like control panel.

so i have to advise anyone looking for faster boots, if you have IDE, get SATA! I dare say that's a more effective upgrade than the other components

I only wanted a 640 since my external drive is 640 but i saw a 1.5tb for only 75 bucks this week