Best Memory Config ? 2x1gb 4x512mb or...

[avatar12m]

have looked through forum but have not found anything regards this memory config.

i have 2x1gb ddr400 geil memory chips installed and wondered as my chipset is limited (nforce4 sli) would it benefit from putting 2x512mb ddr400 in extra as i read 4gb cannot be used and would be a waste.

i was thinking of matching the timing settings of the faster 512mb chips (i think the slower 1gb chips will run faster ok)

but i read it sets the memory to 333mhz with 4 modules in, can i then go in the bios and run it at 400mhz or should i just forget it and run with 2gb.

what would be the pro's and con's of leaving it as it is or going the extra 1gb ?

thank

 

[wiggy]

Welcome to the boards!

I would say youre better off having just 2x 1Gig sticks in because if you three or four sticks you need to lower the command rate which drops performance by about 3%. Not much i know but there really is no need for more than 2Gig at present anyway, so save your money.

 

[Minstadave]

As said by wiggy, using more than 2 modules forces your command rate to 2T and incurs a performance hit.

Having more than 2gigs is usually a waste, as its pretty hard to fill 2 gigs, just to be sure though do the following:

To find your own memory usage, run your usual games and apps for a bit then when you're done, exit back to windows, hit CTRL+ALT+DEL goto to performance and check the peak value in the commit charge box.

If that value is above 2,000,000 odd then you're managing to fill 2 gigs, if its under that then adding more memory would be entirely pointless