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    Which ram setup is better?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Lap, Aug 20, 2008.

  1. Lap

    Lap Notebook Geek

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    Would I be better off using two 512mb sticks for 1gb total, or replacing one of the 512mb sticks with a 2gb stick I bought, for a total of 2.5gb? I have heard that mixing sizes causes dual-channel to not be utilized. Does the dual-channel feature of 1gb outweigh non-dual-channel 2.5gb?
    Thanks for your time.
     
    Lap, Aug 20, 2008
    #1
  2. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Andy, Aug 20, 2008
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  3. Polarix

    Polarix Notebook Evangelist

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    In your situation, a 512MB stick and a 2GB stick > 2x 512MB sticks.

    Tons more RAM. Sure, Dual-Channel is better, but it's not 150% faster.
     
    Polarix, Aug 20, 2008
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  4. ltcommander_data

    ltcommander_data Notebook Deity

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    Intel chipsets also allow for asynchronous dual channel operation. So it will do dual channel interleave between the 512MB stick and the lower 512MB of the 2GB stick and single channel the rest. It's supposed to offer a bit of a boost over pure single channel but probably not as much as true 2x512MB dual channel do to overhead. But still better than nothing. And as Polarix said, the big memory size increase will make the most difference anyways.
     
    ltcommander_data, Aug 20, 2008
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  5. Lap

    Lap Notebook Geek

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    Thanks everyone.
     
    Lap, Aug 20, 2008
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