4 1gb sticks compared to 2 2gb sticks

Soldato
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19 Oct 2002
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Is using 4 * 1gb sticks slower than using 2 * 2gb sticks?

Is there more chance of problems?

Can Vista 32bit use all 4gigs?

thanks
 
i thought it was vista 64 that needed 4gb tbh... as the 32 bit wouldnt use it all efficently if needed... correct me if im wong peeps...
 
32bit OSes can only address 4GB ram in TOTAL. the CPU cache and vRAM all eat into this 4GB figure. similarly, each single program/process can only cache 2GB of memory from the system.

64bit OSes can address 32GB ram in total. each process can cache 16TB (iirc) of memory from the system.

Is using 4 * 1gb sticks slower than using 2 * 2gb sticks?

Is there more chance of problems?

Can Vista 32bit use all 4gigs?

thanks

the speed difference, if there is one, would be minimal (maybe 5 3d marks). 4x 1GB sticks will have lower latency than 2x 2GB sticks. 2x 2GB sticks will be more stable than 4x 1GB sticks.

if you do go down the 4x 1GB route, you'll probably need to raise your NBv by .1v
 
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i thought it was vista 64 that needed 4gb tbh... as the 32 bit wouldnt use it all efficently if needed... correct me if im wong peeps...

I wouldn't say vista needed 4GB.

32-bit can address 4,294,967,296 Bytes

64-bit can address 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 Bytes

Though vista doesn't support that much, and current processors aren't truly 64-bit either, amd-64 cpus only use a 48-bit architecture.
 
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64bit OSes can address 32GB ram in total. each process can cache 16TB (iirc) of memory from the system.

64-bit OSes currently support upto 128GB according to microsoft website, but im sure as soon as we start using 128GB there wil be upgrades that allow more
 
64 bit can handle up to 17592186044416mb ram in theory so theres no need to worry about that for ages lol, and 2x2gb should put less strain on the northbridge but most 2gb sticks out there have have bad speeds/timings so 4 1gb sticks would probably be the best option.
 
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My DQ6 wont run 4 sticks of ocuk or ocz 1066 ram, have to run at 888 instead but graphics benchmarks go no slower at 888.
If you just run a browser & Word then 2gig is plenty but if you play new games/video transcoding etc the >2gig is a must, especially with Vista.
 
If your DQ6 isn't running 4gb of ram at the corrct speed rma it. Well make sure its the board and not the ram. Why have a board which isn;'t working properly? it might come back to bite you. Or if you want to resell it etc.
 
If your DQ6 isn't running 4gb of ram at the corrct speed rma it. Well make sure its the board and not the ram. Why have a board which isn;'t working properly? it might come back to bite you. Or if you want to resell it etc.

My bro has a DS4 & that wont run 4 sticks of ocuk or ocz 1066 ram either so its obviously the P35 chipset having probs with 4 sticks at 1066, though some people claim to be running 4 sticks at 1066 on P35.

Ocuk staff say wait for a BIOS update :confused: . Like thats going to happen LOL. I think they should just swap my ocuk ram for 4 sticks that do work :rolleyes:
 
Can you run all four OcUK sticks at 1066mhz on their own or in pairs?

Also what voltage are you giving them? I've had a couple of sets of the OcUK PC8500 and one pair would run fine at 1066mhz at only 2.0v yet were unstable at 2.1v, whilst the other pair needed 2.1v. The newer sets seem to be the 2.0v version.

Try all four at 2.0v to see if they'll do 1066mhz. Be sure to up your MCH and FSB voltages to +0.1v to boost the northbridge four four sticks.
 
I've tried all voltages & board wont run 4 sticks over 960mhz.
Yeah voltages are dodgy, with 4 sticks the only way to even post is to lower voltage down to 2v, yet either 2gig pairs need 2.2v to run at 1066. Best I can manage is prime95 RAM test stable for 10seconds with 4 sticks, not counting numerous blue screens LOL.

Either 2 pairs will run 2gig great, even up to 1110mhz.

Even 4 sticks of half decent OCZ 1066 ram wont run at 1066.
 
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What voltage was needed for 1110mhz?

2.3v at 1110mhz for either pair.

Ocuk ram is governed to run at 1110mhz.

Even at 888mhz ocuk ram runs very hot so I put copper heat spreaders on all sticks though not messing with warranty label as I've had to take 2 pairs back in the past 2 months. Running ok atm though. My bro tried ocuk 1066 ram but it went down after 2 weeks so he went OCZ.
 
I have 4gb on Vista x64, 4x1gb. When I took 2x1gb for a RMA, I could definately tell the difference, no doubt about it. With 4gb, the machine feels far smoother.

Thanks but I was wondering whether anyone had any experience with 32-bit Vista and "4"Gb.
 
2.3v at 1110mhz for either pair.

Ocuk ram is governed to run at 1110mhz.

Even at 888mhz ocuk ram runs very hot so I put copper heat spreaders on all sticks though not messing with warranty label as I've had to take 2 pairs back in the past 2 months. Running ok atm though. My bro tried ocuk 1066 ram but it went down after 2 weeks so he went OCZ.

I had my 2.1v pair up to 1168mhz at 2.3v

 
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