4GB x 1 or 2GB x 2 for dual -channel mobo?

[Guest]

Greetings Earthlings.

I come to your cyber-world in peace and with a question in mind.

I am looking to build a budget system (an AMD rig with the Phenom II X4 840 - essentially a re-badged Athlon, IK) and wanted know if I should occupy both channels of my dual-channel motherboard (2GB x 2) or just use a single 4GB stick (4GB x 1)?

You see, the motherboard in question is the Asus M4A78LT-M LE and has only 2 DIMMs.

Would I see a noticeable performance hit if I used only one channel of the two?

Thanks for your time.
\\//;

 

[jaquith]

No, the performance hit is negligible - the trick will be later if you add another 4GB stick later. So if 4GB is the END and/or if you're running a 32-bit OS then I'd opt for the Matched Set of 2X2GB.

MAJOR PROBLEM - the M4A78LT-M LE doesn't support the Phenom II X4 840 -> http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A78LTM_LE/#CPUS

Sooo you'll either have to wait and 'hope' for a BIOS update OR choose a different MOBO.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Or a different chip
Moto

 

[Guest]

Thanks folks.

Looks like I was a little hasty in asking this question.
A simple glance at the Wikipedia article on the subject put all doubts to rest.

Yeah, looks like you're right 'jaquith'... the 840 may or may not work with the aforementioned board. Tut, tut... I guess this falls into the 'I made a boo-boo' category of things.

The odd thing is that retailers like eBay and Microcenter and bundling the two together.

Thanks again anyway.

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by hmdhruvarora.