2*2G or 4*1G DDR2

[madian225]

Hi

I will admit that I am seeking advice here on which direction I should go to be honest and what, if any, the benefits would be.

MY current rig is a 939 on an naked Opty so for on the memory side it was always 1T V 2T etc etc when it came to deciding whether to run 2 sticks or 4.

However, as I understand it with the current Itel CPU's all that has gone out of the window, hence this thread to seek advice, help and hopefully gain some useful knowldege.

I am building a rig for a friend and I am looking at the Asus P35 board P5K Delux using DDR 2 memory. This friend is adamt that Visa is the way he wants to go at some point soon but for the moment will be using XP Pro SP2.

The CPU will be the Intel QX6700 Quad core.

My dilema is this do I go for 2*2G sticks - OCZ 4GB PC2 6400 C5 Vista Gold series

OR

Team Extreem 2GB DDR 2 PC2-8000 C5 but use 2 sets i.e. 4 sticks.


Given this machine will more than likely run at stock settings I thought I would seek you advice as to whcih way would be best, thaks

 

[Flanno]

Well when I rang OcUk the other day the tech advised against 4gigs in any mobo for stability reasons. I do know that nvidia intel chipsets (bar the one in my sig which is a 570/590 hybrid) have issues running at 800mhz with 4x1gig of 6400 ram and you have to drop the speed to 667mhz. Intel 965p and 975x chipsets do not have this problem. I believe a lot of AMD chipsets do not overclock very well with 4gig either. So personally unless you are running an Intel 965p or 975x mobo and don't plan on high overclocks I would get the 4gig (2x2gig) Corsair kit.

It will allow you to run at 800mhz though with slacker timings. But you should be able to overclock higher as their will be less stress on the system (this is what Ramguy on the Corsair forums always advises).

 

[shine]

I've got the OCZ 4GB PC2 6400 C5 Vista Gold series and am very impressed and recommend it. But remember that unless your friend has a 64 bit OS he won't be able to utilise the full 4GB so anything more than 2 GB would be a waste.

 

[madian225]

Hi

Vista 64 is the way he wants to go eventually and I am looking at this build as future proof as I possibly can.

I am worried that if I got 2 sticks of RAM A now will I be able to get exatly the same RAM A with the same timings say 8 months down the line given how fast things are moving at the moment and how long a Vista SP 1 may take to appear.

Hence the question really. I know that 2*2 will be far easier on the system BUT if and I do mean IF he decides at some point to push his rig would 4*1 be better given it would be using 8000 DDR 2 ram instead of 6400 DDR 2 ram, if you see what I mean.

The difference in cost between 2*2 and 4*1 is minimal to say the least so before i went mad or did something silly I thought that I would see how other people felt would be the best way forward at this moment in time.

 

[shine]

If he isn't going to upgrade to x64 anytime soon then 2 * 1 is fine. When and if he wants to upgrade he can always sell the existing ram and replace it. There is no point on buying something he's not going make use of.

 

[Teal]

I'm going through the same thought process at the moment.

I'd say that if he isn't going straight to Vista 64 then just put in 2 x 1GB and let him know that he needs to do a memory upgrade when he changes his OS.

Failing that I'd go for 2x2GB as longer term he is more likely to want more memory rather than running what he has got a bit faster.

If he is going Quad then you should note the price changes due in July, but if he wants to get it now then it is his money of course

 

[Flanno]

Although Vista 32 does address 4gigs ram, it's just the 4th gig is in the address space that your video card memory get's mapped to so you only end up with around 3.25-3.5gigs of usable ram depending on what card you are running. So if you did run 4gigs you could still use Vista 32 and get the benefit of at least 3gigs ram and running in dual channel mode. I am running this way at the moment as I don't think Vista 64 will let you install unsigned drivers or will it ?

 

[WJA96]

I am building a rig for a friend and I am looking at the Asus P35 board P5K Delux using DDR 2 memory.

That board is fixed at 2T, only the NVidia chipset Intel motherboards run 1T.

The CPU will be the Intel QX6700 Quad core.

So it's unlikely you'll ever want to run in excess of 400FSB if it does get overclocked.

My dilema is this do I go for 2*2G sticks ... or ....2 sets i.e. 4 sticks.


Given this machine will more than likely run at stock settings I thought I would seek you advice as to whcih way would be best, thaks

If you must buy 4Gb - and it's a pointless waste with a 32-bit OS as it really cannot use more than 2GB (even with the windows switch that forces the OS to pretend it's a server and look for a third Gb) - then buy a 2 x 2GB stick kit for the simple reason that it'll be more useful in the future - who wants 2x512Mb RAM kits now 2x1Gb ones are cheap?

If he's going for outright performance I would also suggest you check out some of the 4Gb threads where the Vista Experience Index drops from 5.9 with 2Gb fitted to 5.0 with 4Gb fitted which suggests 4Gb is slower in Vista's own benchmarks, although why that would be the case is anyone's guess.

The best 4Gb RAM kit that I have personal experience of (and I only have experience of 2) is the Patriot 4Gb one for about £180 delivered. The Corsair one I had gave me problems getting a P965 board to boot (needs lots of volts) and it had problems holding it's CAS5 rating at 400MHz stable. It was fine at CAS6, which suggests the speed-binning wasn't quite perfect perhaps? In any case, it went back to the retailer and the Patriot kit was bought instead.

 

[Dyson]

I am running this way at the moment as I don't think Vista 64 will let you install unsigned drivers or will it ?

Nope, doesn't like it.

Got 4gb of the Geil running fine in my comp at 800Mhz, with 4-4-4-12 T2 timings. All runs well, no crashes etc.

 

[stoofa]

I really wouldn't worry about Vista's "Performance" guide.
I've been running 4GB of RAM for a while now (I bought some of the Geil stuff when it was super cheap the first time around).
My memory only performs as 5.0 - however my system is certainly no slower once I went to 4GB and in certain memory intensive applications there was a definite increase in performance.

As always, benchmarks are just that.
It's the real world you're most interested in.

 

[marscay]

That board is fixed at 2T, only the NVidia chipset Intel motherboards run 1T.



So it's unlikely you'll ever want to run in excess of 400FSB if it does get overclocked.



If you must buy 4Gb - and it's a pointless waste with a 32-bit OS as it really cannot use more than 2GB (even with the windows switch that forces the OS to pretend it's a server and look for a third Gb) - then buy a 2 x 2GB stick kit for the simple reason that it'll be more useful in the future - who wants 2x512Mb RAM kits now 2x1Gb ones are cheap?

If he's going for outright performance I would also suggest you check out some of the 4Gb threads where the Vista Experience Index drops from 5.9 with 2Gb fitted to 5.0 with 4Gb fitted which suggests 4Gb is slower in Vista's own benchmarks, although why that would be the case is anyone's guess.

The best 4Gb RAM kit that I have personal experience of (and I only have experience of 2) is the Patriot 4Gb one for about £180 delivered. The Corsair one I had gave me problems getting a P965 board to boot (needs lots of volts) and it had problems holding it's CAS5 rating at 400MHz stable. It was fine at CAS6, which suggests the speed-binning wasn't quite perfect perhaps? In any case, it went back to the retailer and the Patriot kit was bought instead.

i would strongly advise anybody against the 4gb kits, the timings are just terrible for the money, theyre much better off buying 2 2gb kits.

i have my 4x1gb crucial d9gmh running on XP64 @ 475 4-4-12 2.05v and i'm not sure where this tops out as i only just starting pushing the memory tonight.....they should do 500 just fine with tight timings.

this is on the P5K-Deluxe board, i guess 965 boards will fair less favourably and 680/650 boards you cannot forget about reaching 500 with 4gb.

who cares about the vista benchmark wja, synthetic benches like that don't mean anything....run some games,super-pi ....anything but the vista bench lol

here's the gravy

 

[Flanno]

i would strongly advise anybody against the 4gb kits, the timings are just terrible for the money, theyre much better off buying 2 2gb kits.

If you have an nvidia board then you won't be able to run at ddr2 800mhz speeds with 4 sticks. They will only work at 667mhz. So having 2x2gig sticks is clearly better as you can run at 800mhz +.

Having 4 sticks of ram is also generally considered to limit your max overclock compared to 2 sticks. OcUK techs advise against it, so does Ramguy over on the Corsair forums.

Also you mentioned the timings are terrible for the money..true enough....but the Corsair 2x2gig kit runs at 5,5,5,15. The difference on a Core2Duo between this and running at 4,4,4,12 which is what a lot of 2gig kits run at is minimal at best.

If you need 4gigs then I think the 2x2gig kit is the best option as you should be able to overclock higher and not worry about being stuck at 667mhz.

 

[marscay]

i ran my same dimms as that pic above in my ECS 680i board @ 425 4-3-3-12 2T

it can be done on nvidia boards but of course you won't hit the heights like i get with my P5K board and it's board dependant....some 680i boards just run like crap.

ocuk techs will tell you anything that makes them more money at the end of the day but you're free to listen to anybody you like

also will the 2gb dimms run 500mhz @ 5-5-5 though? i doubt it

 

[Nelly]

The Mushkin ones do but theirs no way I would pay £330 for the priveledge & infact we would pay a lot more in the UK, just have to wait till Corsair/OCZ & other well known brands copy Mushkins secrets - bet their already disecting Mushkins ram in the labs. lol

I'm really surprised that Crucial havent brought out some decent 2GB sticks yet as well.

 

[Flanno]

That's good news...lots of people seem to be limited on the 680i chipset with 4 sticks to 667mhz.

Actually the OcUK tech had nothing to gain financially because it would have cost me more to buy the 4x1gig sticks of Team Extreme 6400C4 compared to the 2x2gig Corsair kit I went for. And it is definitely true about the extra chipset loading with 4 sticks as has been advised time and time again over on the Corsair forums on houseofhelp. This limits overclocking. You even confirm this in your line : "also will the 2gb dimms run 500mhz @ 5-5-5 though?" Mine certainly won't hit 500fsb, but neither will your's if you are running 4 of them, which is what we are talking about here - 4gigs not 2gigs.

As to whether 4x1gig sticks will overclock higher, lots of people and I mean lots have not been able to run with 4x1gig sticks at ddr2 800mhz speeds. This is an acknowledged issue with the nvidia chipset all over these forums. You were lucky I guess. So with that in mine, then 2x2gig sticks has to overclock better as it runs at 800mhz to begin with.

 

[Dyson]

If you have an nvidia board then you won't be able to run at ddr2 800mhz speeds with 4 sticks. They will only work at 667mhz. So having 2x2gig sticks is clearly better as you can run at 800mhz +.

You sure about that? My EVGA 680i board runs my 4x1gb sticks of Geil at 800Mhz, with 4-4-4-12 timings.

 

[Flanno]

Well there are lots of posts all over these forums with people having issues running at 800mhz with 4x1gig sticks. Instability problems mainly. Was this fixed in a bios update on 680i boards ?

Just looking at this thread, it would seem the problem is vendor related allright, with Asus being the worst offenders. If this is true then I do actually regret not getting the 4x1gig Team extreme kit, especially now that I am thinking of getting one of the new Intel P35 boards.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17727516&page=2&pp=30&highlight=800mhz+680i

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17674670&highlight=4gigs+800mhz

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17704046&highlight=4gigs+800mhz

 

[Dyson]

Still got my evga on the old P20 bios. If it aint broke, dont fix it

My friend has same ram on an asus 680i board, and cant use his 4gb without crashing. Not even at 667


Edit: 5.9 memory score in Vista performance thing now, was 5.8 with 2gb!

 

[Flanno]

Seems the EVGA board is the one to get then, and the Asus boards suck. That's good to know. In fact I know more people which have problems with Asus boards then EVGA, and the more I read about overheating nb's, boot issues with the asus 680i boards, the closer I am to getting an EVGA or possibly the new Intel P35 if I ditch my 2nd G80.

At least I still have the 4x1gig sticks Crucial 6400C4.
Might be time to send the Corsair back..still have not arrived. Should have done my research.

 

[marscay]

i think with regards to 680i boards you either get a good one or a duffer.

my ECS board never had any of the sata problems nor any other major complaint, it's actually a very nice board still but i got the P35 for 2 reasons.

a.i needed a new board for my htpc so i could either sell my 680i for half the price i paid and buy a 650i or 965 with less features.
b.going quad core so i wanted something to drive that properly as my 680i would definitely be held at 333fsb.