RAM question

had this issue a bit ago.
2x2gb is better.
half the power draw, half the heat.
probably a .1% performance loss.
go 2x2. also. it's cheaper.
 
4x1 performs worse than 2x2. There are less cards that have to communicate and keep in sync in a 2x2 setup. With the 4x1 there is a higher potential for a bottleneck to occur.
 
4x1 performs worse than 2x2. There are less cards that have to communicate and keep in sync in a 2x2 setup. With the 4x1 there is a higher potential for a bottleneck to occur.
Click to expand...
It does perform worse but not by a whole lot. The difference is 2 sticks might be able to run a command rate of 1 while 4 sticks can't.
 
Well I would think my CPU is my bottleneck. Plus, going from 3GB of 5300 5-5-5-15 to 4GB of 6400 4-4-4-12 is big enough of an upgrade that the decrease in performance of using 4 1GB stick would be insignificant, right? The thing is it's a lot cheaper to go for 4x1GB.
 
Even if your RAM can run 1T command rate, the loss going to 4 sticks isn't very big. Do you really need 4 GB though? Upgrading for the sake of upgrading can get expensive.
 
True, well I find specials in the paper for Fry's Electronics. Every weekend they have 2GB (2x1) of PC-6400 for $20-$25. I've been looking around on NewEgg and I found this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227139

Very cheap, and actually it's 4-4-4-15. The only thing I know about timing is lower is better, I don't think this would be much worse than 4-4-4-12. Anyways it's $50 with $30 rebate. I might buy one, maybe have my friend buy the other one.
 
Well I've seen RAM with the 4-4-4-12 2T timing. I have no idea what that means, but it was $35 for 2GB (2x1). Would this solve the issue of having 4 1GB sticks? Also that link is the memory I am considering buying. Does it look good?
 
4-4-4-12 2T
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Those timings are CAS-tRC-tRP-RAS CMD. There is no issue with having 4 sticks, it's just slightly slower. With RAM running faster all the time it makes even less difference.

That OCz RAM you linked looks pretty good. $20 is hard to beat :)
 
Haha yeah. Well I looked all over and I finally found memory benchmarks and it showed maybe a 0.5 fps increase between PC-6400 and PC-5300. If I was building a new computer I wouldn't hesitate to get that RAM but I just bought 1 more GB of

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134216

to complete the dual channel. I also just bought an overclocked 8800GT at 700/1700/2000. This might give me around a 30-40 fps increase in some games. Haha although it was a lot more expensive. Thanks for all the input and info!
 
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