Celeron D DDR memory

No dual channel DDR533 wouldn't be "in synch", it would be twice as fast. The P4 533 bus is based on 133MHz clock, DDR533 is based on 266MHz clock so the clocks are asynchronous. And dual channel would mean the bandwidth is also double.

If you want dual channel completely synchronous, you'd go with DDR266 (PC2100) in dual channel mode. Really. But I'd just go with DDR400 in dual channel mode.

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I'm not a memory afficiando, so I'll leave brands up to other people . I say quality memory at a good price from a major mfg. (Corsair, crucial, Geil, Kingston, etc.)

2-3-3-6 and 2-2-2-5 are going to be so close in performance that only a benchmark can tell the difference. There is a difference, but I don't think its worth $50. Besides, if that's DDR400 memory, then if you're running it at ddr266 speeds (as the Celeron D specs) you may even be able to hit 2-2-2-5 on the 2-3-3-6 memory.

2 sticks in a kit is the exact same performance as 2 otherwise identical individual sticks. No increase, no decrease in performance. By getting the kit you're guaranteed that the memory is the same and will work in dual channel mode. No kit means its possible, even if the brands and model #'s are the same, to get 2 different types of memory chip that may or may not work in dual channel. Much less likely to happen with major brands, but its a concern. I'd take a wild guess that that chance is about 1% with major brands, increasing as you go to less reputable mfgs.

Mike.

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