2GB dual vs. single channel

Hi everyone,

I will be ordering a laptop soon from Dell which will come with 1GB (2x512MB) of RAM. I am intending on buying the memory elsewhere since Dell overcharges, and it seems that I can buy either a 2GB module or a 2x1GB kit for the same price. I understand that if I get 2x1GB I can get dual channel mode, but then I will be making a future upgrade to 4GB more costly.

Does anybody know of any recent benchmarks comparing dual- and single-channel with the same amount of memory?

Thanks,

Faruk

 

Just get the single 2Gb to future proof yourself, the benefits will not be big enough to warrant the 2x1gb.

 

Get a single 2GB stick, the difference isn't really that much and this way you would save a lot on a future upgrade to maybe 3GB or even 4GB.

 

I agree....the prices are so cheap now on 2GB modules, that you will probably find yourself picking up a second 2GB stick sooner than you think.

Also, if you get the 2GB module, then leave one of the 512MB modules in there. That will give you 2.5GB, and the new Santa Rosa (i'm assuming u are getting a santa rosa equipped laptop) will use 1GB of that in dual channel mode (the single 512MB stick, PLUS the first 512MB of RAM used from the 2GB module)...This configuration would likely be faster than running 2x1GB anyway, since the extra 512MB of ram will be put to good use, especially in Vista.

 

Hi, thanks for the reply!

Though I just realized that I forgot to mention, I will be getting the integrated graphics option (GMA X3100).. Will dual-channel make any significantly noticeable performance improvement there?

Edit: Wow, 2 more replies right after I clicked the "Submit" button, thanks for the suggestions guys! Would be appreciated if anyone can quickly touch on the integrated graphics issue too

 

you might as well just go for 2x2gb right now. look on newegg its really cheap.

 

Not likely...especially given that you will likely not be playing any serious games with that anyway...

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys

I will get the single 2GB stick, and I will see if Dell can send me the laptop with a single 1GB module instead of 2x512MB.. I hope they agree with that!

 

Well, I see you've already made up your mind, but just to add my 2 cents. I concur with the opinion of going with one 2 gb stick versus 2 1gb. I recently upgraded from 2-512kb to 2-1gb with an integrated video card. For some reason the two 512kb sticks would not do dual channel mode, so I thought if I got a 'kit' and got dual channel mode working, that I might see a little bump for having 128 bit memory for the video.......not really. Seems like that is a thing of the past, maybe going back to plain old DDR memory.

 

I would get a 2GB stick to run alongside whatever comes in your notebook. Any combination of 2 modules will give you decent bandwidth.

There is some useful info about the performance of different RAM combinations in the Dual Channel RAM Guide.

I can also confirm that increasing RAM above 1GB makes no significant difference to the performance of the Intel X3100.

John