Ram question - 1GB or 1.5GB?

Hi just purchased HP dv6305us, Turion TL-50 w/ 512 MB (office depot $500) the computer speed is not blazing fast - expected more though, upgrading from celeron and all.

Now the question since it has 512 MB is it a good idea to buy another 512 MB for a total of 1GB to get matching pair - dual channel or buy another 1GB to get total of 1.5 GB but end up with single channel.

This laptop is primary used for web browsing, music (itunes) and dvd movie watching. Thanks in advance.

 

The only thing is that the 512MB is 2x256 sticks (verify that with CPU-Z though). So you might as well look at our RAM deals thread and get two new sticks to your hearts content.

If you are running Vista, you really should aim for 1.5-2GB. XP...1GB is fine.

 

Sorry for not giving more detail - its 1 512mb stick and I am running vista w/ NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 shared video ram.

so how big a difference in performance is 1 gb w/ dual channel compared to 1gb in single channel?

 

If you're going to run vista, I would definitely recommend 2 GB of RAM, or if thats not possible, 1.5 GB. It'll make things much faster. Once you upgrade your RAM and get rid of some of the bloat that came with your laptop, im sure things will speed up considerably. :]

And to answer your last question, I believe the performance difference is negligible. I'm sure others know much more than I do about that though.

 

None taken...I usually recommend that cause at least you don't have to open your laptop up to find out. Plus, a lot of users have one stick underneath, and one under the keyboard. And not everyone is comfortable with a screwdriver

 

Thanks for all the help, i decided to go all the way to 2 GB - for just $30/1GB from frys.com - now who wouldn't at these prices!

Now I keep hearing about how dual channel is important - and to match the speed of RAM to FSB - hope i'm spitting out of you know what!