Dual Channel

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vonfeldt7

New Member
For my upcoming build I want 4 GB (2 X 2GB) of DDR2 @ 1066Mhz. The problem with this, is that the only RAM on newegg that fits my requirements is by some brand called "Geil" (You can find the RAM here). I'm not a big fan of buying something from a brand I've never heard of, especially if it has no reviews.

Since the Geil RAM has no reviews, I've decided to purchase this RAM, and I would just order two of them. This way I could still have 4Gb of DDR2 @ 1066Mhz, but I would just have 4, 1Gb sticks instead of 2, 2Gb sticks.

Since the Kingston RAM that I have a link to above is Dual Channel, I would still be able to run it at 1T right?

Also, does anyone know anything about "Geil?" I would much rather have the 2X2Gb sticks if possible.
 
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GEIL is crap and Kingston is one of the top brands. They are at the opposite ends there. On the new build here I run 2gb of the DDR2 800 memory with no problems. The last build saw 2gb of the Kingston ValueRam there. Due to this being more of a work horse type build I considered adding a second 2gb of the Hyper X memory in.

For 2gb dimms expect a high price on those and look for them at other sites besides newegg. Corsair and other brands including Kingston have them while not being a big seller due to the usually high prices seen on them.
 
No. 4 sticks is 2T. 1T command rate is good but it's not going to make that much difference. 2GB sticks aren't that expensive right now but if you've already got 2x1GB you might as wel get 2 more if you really want 4GB
 
iT won't even run here. When that was tried on the new build with the 2gb of Hyper X I ended up clearing the cmos and setting it back to auto or 2T. I decided to leave that at auto in the event I do add another pair of 1gb dimms in at some point.
 
^ No, I don't already have any Ram, this is for a new build. I want 4 gigs [total] and I would preferably want it in 2, 2Gb sticks and at 1066mhz, but since the only brand that offers DDR2 @ 1066mhz in 2, 2Gb sticks is "Geil" I'm settling for DDR2 @ 1066mhz with 4, 1Gb sticks.
 
geil is considered pretty high end by most people i have talked to. i work in a repair shop, we dont sell it, but other technicians have a high opinion of it as well. but i guess its all about who you talk to
 
Dual channel is when your system runs 2 DIMMs on 2 different memory channels to effectively double bandwidth, it's not perfect but you do get a good boost.
You can read a bit about it in this post
 
With boards since the Pentium 4s and AMD Socket A models skipping over the 754s boards now see two channel cpapability. The concepy behind adding a second channel is to open up a second channel to relieve the primary when you are running a large program or more then small ones. Background services and apps more or less get pushed onto the secondary channel once the primary fills up.

This was one of the original explainations. One online dictionary goes into explaining how that doubles the 64bit bandwidth provided to the cpu totally 128bit.

Dual-channel architecture DDR/DDR2 SDRAM describes a motherboard technology that effectively doubles data throughput from RAM to the memory controller. Dual-channel-enabled memory controllers utilize two 64-bit data channels, resulting in a total bandwidth of 128-bits, to move data from RAM to the CPU.

"The dual-channel configuration alleviates the problem by doubling the amount of available memory bandwidth. Instead of a single memory channel, a second parallel channel is added. With two channels working simultaneously, the bottleneck is reduced. Rather than wait for memory technology to improve, dual-channel architecture simply takes the existing RAM technology and improves the method in which it is handled. While the actual implementation differs between Intel and AMD motherboards, the basic theory stands." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_channel
 
PC eye said:
The concepy behind adding a second channel is to open up a second channel to relieve the primary when you are running a large program or more then small ones. Background services and apps more or less get pushed onto the secondary channel once the primary fills up.
Click to expand...

I don't believe different apps/services goes to each channel. They all use the same 128-bit channel, things just move faster this way. Memory addresses are also bounced between channels
 
PC eye said:
The concepy behind adding a second channel is to open up a second channel to relieve the primary when you are running a large program or more then small ones. Background services and apps more or less get pushed onto the secondary channel once the primary fills up.
Click to expand...

It doesnt work that way, both channels work together, data is not just sent to one channel or the other in other words, primary data is not sent to one channel and secondary data to the other. Data is split between both channel.

64bit memory controllers (which are independent of each other) instead of just a single controller like other chipsets. These two controllers are able to access "two channels" of memory simultaneously. The two channels, together, handle memory operations more efficiently than one module by utilizing the bandwidth of two modules (or more) combined. By combining DDR400 (PC3200) with dual memory controllers could offer up to 6.4GB/sec of bandwidth in theory. It is also possible for DDR Dual Channel architecture to reduce system latencies and timing delays that inherently occur with one memory module. For example, one controller reads and writes data while the second controller prepares for the next access, hence, eliminating the reset and setup delays that occur before one memory module can begin the read/write process all over again. Think of it like two relay runners. The first runner runs one leg while the second runner sets up and prepares to receive the baton smoothly and carry on the task at hand without delay.
 
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PC eye said:
The concept behind adding a second channel is to open up a second channel to relieve the primary when you are running a large program or more then small ones. Background services and apps more or less get pushed onto the secondary channel once the primary fills up.

This was one of the original explainations.
Click to expand...

tyttebøvs said:
I don't believe different apps/services goes to each channel. They all use the same 128-bit channel, things just move faster this way. Memory addresses are also bounced between channels
Click to expand...

You both missed one thing there when I mentioned that this was one way the dual channel mode was explained back 3 or 4yrs. ago when the dual channel boards were first coming out. The online information seen at the dictionary is far more detailed and updated there.
 
PC eye said:
The concepy behind adding a second channel is to open up a second channel to relieve the primary when you are running a large program or more then small ones. Background services and apps more or less get pushed onto the secondary channel once the primary fills up.
Click to expand...

PC eye said:
You both missed one thing there when I mentioned that this was one way the dual channel mode was explained back 3 or 4yrs. ago when the dual channel boards were first coming out. The online information seen at the dictionary is far more detailed and updated there.
Click to expand...

No I dont think I missed anything, I dont see where in your post about 3 or 4 years ago. Besides the point, Dual Channel worked the same way then.
 
So does one need a Dual Channel Random Access Memory kit to run memory in Dual Channel mode? Or if the motherboard supports Dual Channel mode can one just install two identical memory modules and then get Dual Channel performance out of that setup?
 
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