The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    512 stick + 1 gig stick ram

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by halperin, May 29, 2006.

  1. halperin

    halperin Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    245
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Does it not work as well when you have 1 stick of 512 ram and the other of 1 gig. When two memory sticks dont match does that have any affect on the comp? specially with a core duo?
     
    halperin, May 29, 2006
    #1
  2. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    1,326
    Messages:
    7,137
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    No,there will be no adverse impacts. Running 2 equal sized RAM sticks will enable dual channel memoy which will provide more bandwidth. Running unequal sticks wont, although it is rumored that some of the newer Intel chipsets might be able to run in dual channel configurartion even with unequal sticks.
     
    miner, May 29, 2006
    #2
  3. halperin

    halperin Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    245
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    what is dual channel memory exactly?
     
    halperin, May 29, 2006
    #3
  4. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    1,326
    Messages:
    7,137
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    It is basically, doubling the bandwidth between the memory controller and the memory. Single channel controllers use 64bit data channels whereas dual channel controllers combine the 2 channels(from the dual memory sticks) into 128 bits and therefore effectively double the available bandwidth and removing any bottlenecks between the CPU and the RAM.

    This whitepaper is good reading if you want more detailed information....
    http://www.kingston.com/newtech/MKF_520DDRwhitepaper.pdf

    The advantages of dual channel configuration are somewhat limited but can be useful in certain situations. It is recommended to have dual channel but it wont have any adverse impacts if you dont run it.
     
    miner, May 29, 2006
    #4