2x512 dual channel or 1x1Gig single channel

Hello,

I'm purchasing a new laptop and wondering about the RAM. Right now, I could either afford 2x512 dual channel ddr2 or 1x1GIG single channel ddr2. Will a dual channel make a lot of difference on a notebook? I'm getting the AMD 1.8 x2 processor. Do dual core processors run better with two memory chips?

Also, will Vista run better on 2 gigs of ram over 1 gig? Thanks for any help.

David

 

I've heard that the dual channel setup will improve performance but it will be very marginal and you will most likely not notice it. I would suggest just getting 1 stick of 1gb for now and then upgrade later for Vista. Vista definitely runs a lot better on 2 gigs. 1 gb to Vista is like 512 for XP where it can run pretty well, but as you install more programs or demand high performance, you're going to need that extra ram.

 

Thanks for the advice. That makes sense. I think I'll go with the 1 Gig stick now.

 

Well, for now, 1GB of RAM should be more than sufficient to run demanding programs efficiently. It should even be sufficient for moderate gaming.

If you want to play a lot of games or want your laptop to run Windows Vista efficiently, I would hughly recommend the 2GB of RAM.

 

Buy the 1 Gig chip if you want room to upgrade later. I suspect your laptop will only have two RAM slots, so if you want to upgrade later for Vista then you need to get the first Gig on 1 chip.

 

The majority of laptops only have two RAM slots. I would go with the 2 x 512 for dual channel. Vista is a memory hog, but you can kill a lot of unnecessary services.

 

I have found that dual channel is a noticeable improvement and increases of 10 to 20% are noticed in benchmarking.

 

A 1x1GB is easily upgradable without having to resell your old memory, and it'll be cheaper to just buy a single 1GB stick. A gig of memory in single-channel mode is still not slow at all.