Question about using 2 dimm slots vs. 4 slots

[Unium]

I'm currently using 4 sticks (512 each) of 533-ddr2 in my M2N-E mobo for a total of 2gb (obviously hah). It's value ram so the timings are 4-4-4-12-2T and it is running in dual channel since it has 2 pairs. Now my brother has 2x1GB sticks in his almost exact same build that I have and they are 667-ddr2 and also value so 5-5-5-15-2T.

My main question was assuming we have the same timings and speed on the ram would there be any difference between running the 2GB with 4 slots or with 2? Also any discussion on the difference you will see between 533 and 667 setups I described would be welcome.

I'm probably going to bench the 2 systems also with passmark which I should have done already but any other recommendation on ram test programs would be great.

Thanks.

 

[Track]

There is not going to be a difference in performance between using 2 sticks and 4 sticks.

The higher the frequency the better, 667 CL5 is much better than 533 CL 4.

 

[Unium]

Thanks Track, ya the slot question I figured was a non issue but it was bugging me in the back of my mind because I let my bro take the 2 667's (long story, ram presents during christmas haha and I new there were going to be only 2 viable configs for dual channel.) To keep the total equal at least haha!

 

[jackluo923]

I would like to hear your long Christmas story, lol.... I get intimidated when I see people getting christmas present and i don't. BTW, 4x512mb vs 2x1gb. 2x1GB wins in lesser failure rate, meaning its less likely to fail than 4x512mb set up. Also, 2x1gb uses less energy than 412mb. In terms of performance, 2x1GB wins out by tiny amount, which is barley noticeable in benchmarks.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

On an AMD based rig, with 2 DIMMs you can run a 1T command rate. With 4 DIMMs you will be forced to run 2T (aka slower) command rate. In benchmarks, 1T is much faster but is only about 3-5% faster in real world applications where latencies figure in. So, there is a performance difference between the 2 setups as well as some other small differences noted above.