Ddr2 Ram

Can someone straighten this out for me, please? I am going to get a dv2000t. I was planning on getting it with 512 MB RAM and upgrading myself, but I was going to get a 1 GB stick. Can someone explain the dual channel thing to me? Do I need two of the exact same stick or can they be different brands? Does this computer even support the dual channel thing? In that case, I will have to get either 1GB or 2GB to take advantage of the dual channel, right?

Thank you.

 

Dual channel makes little difference for most uses. All dual channel memory helps in is doubling the available memory bandwidth. Most systems dont even use anywhere close to the max bandwidth that is available and the performance boost will not be noticable. I wouldnt worry too much about dual channel - it is not strictly necessary and your system will work just fine in single channel mode as well. Having 1.5GB of single channel memory is better than having just 1GB in dual channel.

Dual channel requires any equal sized memory sticks. It does not have to be identically in terms of brand. Some newer chipsets even support dual channel mode with unequal sticks as well.

 

Thank you very much for the input.