Ram comparison: 2GB vs 2.5 GB

Hey guys,
I am about to upgrade the ram in my laptop which has 1GB(2 X 521MB)
I am wodering if I should buy a 2GB stick, which I can future upgrade to 4 GB,
Or 2X1GB stick.

I am confused with this dual thing, is 2GB X 521MB faster or 1GB X 1GB faster?

Thanks!

 

I'd say 2 gigs is good enough. I hear that the 2.5 will run slower though

 

Well, i'd think 2x1 gb would be better

 

The only thing that I want a 2GB stick is that I can easily upgrade to 4GB in the future if needed.

 

It would probably be more wise to go with the 2 gig stick if you are infact going to upgrade in the future.

 

I think the best move would be to buy a 2gb stick, dual channel doesnt offer quite the boost compared to upgrading to 2.5, and THEN after a while buying another 2gb stick.

Think of it as future proofing. Youll probaby put 4gb in the long run IF you are like me, who sees a laptop as a long term investment.

 

damn everyone beat me in like 1 minute -.-

 

I think I've posted the PCMark with exactly these 2 config. The difference is within 5%. So don't worry too much about losing dual channel.

 

On the other hand by the time you upgrade to 4 GB it may be the same price as a 2GB stick now at which point you will have given up dual channel for that long and not really saved any $$$

How is windows handling 4GB now anyways? I haven't been keeping up to date on that whole ordeal...

 

Thanks for your replies, I will just wait to see which RAM 1X1GB or 2GB has the best deal coming up,
BTW, which brand of ram is recommonded?

 

Does not matter just buy from a good retailer with lifetime warranty.

 

Depending on the price between the two I think it would be worth keeping that 5% gain...

 

Dual channeling is over rated. As soon as your system starts paging to the harddrive, your 5% performance gain is gone.

 

Well taking that theory to heart we shouldn't buy higher speed ram then? That ~5% (as long as it is doesn't have an outrageous Price erformance ratio) can help make your machine last a year longer than it would otherwise, for instance...

I'll take every ounce of performance I can get for a reasonable price, because I aim to make my machines last me 3-5 years... And the hardware always gets taxed more as time goes on...

 

I ordered 2 GB of RAM (2x1GB) with my 1720. But as a compensation, they're upgrading it to 3GB (1x1GB + 1x2GB).

So, will my laptop actually suffer????? If not, then how will it improve the performance? I have 1.5 Ghz Core2Duo processor and 8600M GT.

In which case will it take away the dual-channel thing (and how is this thing helpful in the first place)???? Will it cost me much in terms of performance????

If it won't help or worsen my laptop's performance (ie, no noticiable difference), then I can live with it.

Please help.

 

You would need a 64-bit operating system to take full advantage of the 4gb.

I would have gone for the 2x1gb config personally.

 

I think once u buy that 2gb stick, and say upgrade to 4gb later, u mite not be able to find that same 2 gb stick in the previous purchase! i would buy it all in one go! 2x1gb = best

 

Have a read of this thread. I would expect the speed of 2 + 0.5GB to be much the same as 2 + 1GB.

John