2 sticks of 2gb vs. 1 stick of 4 gb

[fcdwn777]

Hello. I am considering getting some more memory. Currently, I am using g.skill Ripjaw ddr3 1600 memory, 2 sticks of 2bg. I was just browsing newegg and noticed that for the life of me, I can't find a 2gb stick of ripjaw memory that comes alone. Now, considering how cheap memory really is, I have no quarrels with going from 4-8 gigs of memory though I don't think I can make full use of it all. Now, here is my question. What is the difference between using 1 stick of 4gb memory, or 2 sticks of 2gb memory? As far as I have heard, it seems to be more common to use 2gb sticks, but I would like to be educated on this issue before I make any final purchases. Thanks.

 

[wintermint]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/PARALLEL-PROCESSING,1705-15.html
Tom's did an article on it back then. They found little to no difference in performance. That was back in 07 so there's probably like a small percentage of increase in performance. I would just go for the single 4GB and use it by itself or mix and match with the original 2gb. You can purchase another 4GB down the line when you want to upgrade to more ram. Most motherboards have 4 240pin slots for RAM [some have 2]

 

[fcdwn777]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/PARALLEL-PROCESSING,1705-15.html
Tom's did an article on it back then. They found little to no difference in performance. That was back in 07 so there's probably like a small percentage of increase in performance. I would just go for the single 4GB and use it by itself or mix and match with the original 2gb. You can purchase another 4GB down the line when you want to upgrade to more ram. Most motherboards have 4 240pin slots for RAM [some have 2]

is there any reason I would not be able to use a 4 gig stick and the ram I have now together for 8 gigs?

 

[ShEsHy]

It's preferrable to use identical sticks of RAM to avoid voltage, frequency, latency,... issues.

 

[apache_lives]

if you have dual channel USE IT, same for tri channel and what not

also, do things properly the first time - planning on 8gb? do it all at once not one stick now and another later - you end up with unmatched ram and issues

 

[jsc]

is there any reason I would not be able to use a 4 gig stick and the ram I have now together for 8 gigs?

You cannot run dual channel mode. Dual channel is a little, although perhaps unnoticeably faster.

If you do not need to squeeze every little bit of performance out of a system, it is not worth obsessing about it. If you have a 64 bit OS, I think 8 GB running single channel is worth more than 4 GB running dual channel.

 

[RetiredChief]

I ran a pair of 2 Gig sticks (Ripjaw DDr3-1600 CL7,7,7 @ 1.6 Volts) with a pair of 4 gig Modules (Ripjaw DDr3,1600 GL7,8,7 @ 1.6 V) with no problem (total 16 gigs)

Would think that the 2 x 2 in banks 1 & 3 would still run in daul channel and the 1 stick in bank 0 would run single channel. Just match the speed, CL ratings and Votalge. My preference would just to go a head and buy the 2 x 4, place them in banks 1 & 3 and move your 2 x 2 to bank 0 & 2.

 

[fcdwn777]

if you have dual channel USE IT, same for tri channel and what not

also, do things properly the first time - planning on 8gb? do it all at once not one stick now and another later - you end up with unmatched ram and issues

Well, I had only so much money at the time I built my comp, so I could only afford 4gigs then. According to newegg my mobo is dual channel, and it has 4 memory slots. So, if I get 2 sticks of 2 gig memory of the kind I am using already, I can just drop it into the 2 remaining slots and be good to go?

 

[RetiredChief]

^ Yes, get a pair of 2gig sticks, same speed/CL/voltag and you should be good to go.