From 1Gb to 2Gb

BahBah · 25 Feb 2006 at 19:49

Hi,

I have 2x512MB of Corsair XMS3200 RAM (the one with the fancy lights).

I wish to upgrade to 2Gb.

If I add a third stick of memory presumably I can no longer run in dual channel.

Is the difference between 2x1Gb in real terms (and not in points on 3dmark) that much better than 2x512MB and a 1Gb stick ?

I have an AMD64 cpu if that has any bearing on the issue, and I do not overclock at all.

Thanks

ajgoodfellow · 25 Feb 2006 at 20:58

Why wouldn't you want to have 4 sticks? The issues with 4 sticks of ram (2T timings and DDR333 if you've got a Winchester, Newcastle or Clawhammer core) exist with 3 sticks of ram

With three sticks of ram you'll also loose out in dual channel memory (5-10% drop) and one 1GB stick is often more than 2 512MB sticks

You'll also be running mismatched memory which can cause problems in some systems.

OV3RCLOCK3R · 25 Feb 2006 at 21:11

I agree with ajgoodfellow.

Another thing you can do is, you can sell your current ram and put the money together and get a good 2gb set

easyrider · 25 Feb 2006 at 21:30

Agreed sell that current set and get a new 2gig kit

BahBah · 26 Feb 2006 at 16:54

OK - thanks guys

Can you recommend any good 2Gb Dual Channel kits that are fast ? I do not intend to overclock at all.

easyrider · 26 Feb 2006 at 17:07

G skill HZ are good.

BahBah · 26 Feb 2006 at 17:14

Thanks easyrider

Is the OCUK value RAM any good ? That's a great price for a 2Gb dual channel kit. My concern with it is the speed. From what I have read it won't overclock but that's obviously not an issue for me.

ajgoodfellow · 26 Feb 2006 at 17:26

It's fine for the money - it runs at DDR400 like most of the 2GB kits. It will be a little slower than the higher priced kits due to the high latencies

loltim · 26 Feb 2006 at 18:29

easyrider said:
G skill HZ are good.

When it works.

easyrider · 26 Feb 2006 at 18:34

Tim said:
When it works.

elaborate

Mikey1280 · 26 Feb 2006 at 19:28

I found that the OCuk value RAM is pretty good and if you are not overclocking then it should be great. Runs at 2.5-3-3-7 @ 200mhz which is not too bad.

lee32uk · 26 Feb 2006 at 22:51

GEIL 'value' ram is good for the money if your not o/c

Larok · 26 Feb 2006 at 23:00

Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)

would run well at stock

loltim · 27 Feb 2006 at 01:36

easyrider said:
elaborate

OcUK had a dodgy batch. I was unlucky enough to purchase a set from this batch, its kind of put me off GSkill.

venusflytrap · 28 Feb 2006 at 20:06

hello
i have a socket amd 754 cpu with two 512mb of ram. Im thinking of adding another single gig stick if ram. will this decrease preformance? Does AMD 754 cpu have dual channel mem thing?

thanks

easyrider · 28 Feb 2006 at 20:26

venusflytrap said:
hello
i have a socket amd 754 cpu with two 512mb of ram. Im thinking of adding another single gig stick if ram. will this decrease preformance? Does AMD 754 cpu have dual channel mem thing?

thanks

No socket 754 is not dual channel so don't worry about.

venusflytrap · 28 Feb 2006 at 20:54

thanks

OV3RCLOCK3R · 28 Feb 2006 at 23:47

Larok said:
Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)

would run well at stock

For the price, agreed

Mark A · 1 Mar 2006 at 01:24

Just thought id ask this here instead of making a new thread. Does anything have to be done in preperation for a 2gb kit? i.e bios update voltage increase, or is it simply a case of just plugging it in and away you go?. Ive got a winchester cpu and abit AV8 mobo, i was thinking of getting the 3200C2 2gb kit, it says its plug and play.

Mark

tbz_ck · 1 Mar 2006 at 08:49

Usually its just plug and play and you need do nothing except...

If you have manually set timings in the BIOS I recommend you put them back to defaults though as you will probably find your 2GB Kit has a higher latency than your 1GB kit.