1*512 or 2*256 ddr?

[Guest]

Better to go with a single stick of pc2100 512 mb ram or two 256 sticks?

I guess with the single stick you don't have to worry about any timing issues or any such thing but are there any reasons to go with 2 256 sticks?

Woooh Math!

 

[lhgpoobaa]

um yeah...

512mb sticks arnt as common as what would be nice.

i.e. i wanted PC150 ram and all thats around is 256mb sticks by kingmax.

also, 512mb is often more expensive than 2 256mb sticks, and may have a cas latency of only 2.5 or 3 instead of 2.

but if you can find 512mb PC2100 ddr for an equivalent price to two 256mb sticks AND has the same cas rating then go for it...
will allow room to upgrade.
not that u really need it. 256 is adequate for most gamers, and 512 is enough for all but the extreme.
ive had my pc for 7-8 months now, and ive only gone into the swapfile fully once, when editing 300Mb wav files.

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[CMRvet]

Just an additional info if you want some overclocking: 1 stick of 512 MB coulbe more easy to overclock than 2 sticks of 256. I mean you can get higher FSBs using 1 stick rather than 2. See this at <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.com" target="_new">http://www.overclockers.com</A> on November 6 “MultiSticks Make Overclockers Sick?”

 

[lhgpoobaa]

depends on stick quality i would think...
so long as both sticks are from the same manufacturer and similar batch.
course you will be limited by the worst stick of the two...
would rather have 2x256mb crucial than 1x512mb generic.


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[ycs46241]

how many slots do you have and what is the max on ram?

 

[CMRvet]

I agree with you but as I understood from overclockers.com they used 3 sticks crucial PC2100 256 Mb, so there is no distortion coming from a different stick.
Anyway, they said that will study this behavior deeper.

 

[DaveGOD]

go with the one 512mb so long as its crucial... even if u dont use crucial ram, visit their site and use teh memory selector thingy to see what ram your board will take (if youve got a old board it might not take 512mb sticks).

as to the 3 stick thing, i think i read around here somewhere that a lot of boards have trouble with the third (but not first two) sticks?

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[Guest]

I'm looking at getting the MSI K7T266pro2 mobo.

Another question: what's the difference between cas 2 or 2.5? I understand that 2 is faster, although I'm not certain why.

Woooh Math!

 

[Guest]

Regarding Crucial ram, I noticed on their site that they are a division of Micron. Is ram by Micron/Samsung the same thing?

You've all pretty much sold me on the quality of Cruical ram, but I prefer to buy from a Canadian based reseller (Just makes things easier for me, being a Canuck and all).

Thx

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[lhgpoobaa]

indeed with most motherboard manufacturers, the problem existed with using more than 3 sticks on a SDRAM mobo, but seems to be only 2 for DDR.

thus the reason why many sdram mobo's only have 3 slots, and the majority of ddr ones 2.
course if you buy registered ram sticks this problem doesnt exist, but they cost a premium

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[troopr]

I dont believe you can get CAS 2.0 yet. Only 2.5 is avail.