i9300 memory question

hey everyone, like many of you i'm very excited about the new inspiron 9300, should have mine in a week. current configuration:

1.6 Pentium M
60GB 7200RPM HD
512MB RAM
256 Nvidia 6800 Graphics
True LIfe Screen
Wifi/Bluetooth

Total Cost (after overlapping coupons): $1,349

my question is about memory. i know what kind of memory this thing takes (4200 DDR), but i was curious b/c I think I read somewhere that in order for the memory to function best, both cards need to be identical in terms of size. Is this true? i was sort of hoping to buy a 512mb card next month, and then another 512mb card a few months later... is this a bad idea?

thanks for the help!

 

In order to realize and benefits from DDR2, you need to have 2 of the exact same memory sticks installed at the same time.

Dell Inspiron 8600:
* 1.6 Ghz Pentium M * 1024 MB DDR SDRAM * 100 Gb Seagate Momentus 5400 Rpm HD * 15.4" WSXGA+ * Internal Bluetooth * Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 * 4x CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) * ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128 MB * Win XP Pro SP2 *

* Apple 17" PowerBook G4 * 14" Toshiba Tecra 8000 * Apple 14" iBook G4 *

 

That's simply not true, a single stick of DDR2 works great. Dual channel on the 9300 does hardly anything for additional performance. The onboard cpu cache is so large, it hardly ever reads from main memory, and when it does, it's a very small increase to have dual channel, so overall, a couple of percent at best. Don't spend a bunch of money on dual channel thinking it will run faster, it's simply not true.

But do get enough ram, 256MB just doesn't do it, and two 256's to get 512 is the cheapest way to go. But if you want a single 512MB or 1GB chip, you're not missing anything.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050119/sonoma_alviso-23.html