Quick Questoin on dual channel speed?

[Trance183]

is there a huge difference in speed between dual channel and single channel? im trying to buy a 1gb for a battlefield 2 system. but dont wanna go 2GB. just a simple solution. should i get two 512 sticks. or one 1gb stick? is there a difference in gaming performance between the 2? i know dual channel doubles bandwidth. but does that extra bandwidth increase gaming performance? please clear this up. i did read the sticky on ram. btw. thanks

 

[drew455]

i'd say to go with the 1gb stick cuz in the future you'll be able to go dual channel and have 2gb. even tho you dont wanna go to 2gb, 1gb is fine only for xp. if you use vista or plan on using it you'll definitely want 2gb. it would also help if i knew what your system specs are. if you use ddr then you can get 1gb sticks for about 60$ but if you use ddr2 you can get 2x1gb sticks for about 80$.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

If improving BF2 is your primary goal, I would suggest getting 2gb of memory if you can. It runs infinitely better with 2gb of memory.

 

[utaka95]

Dual channel is good for about a 3-5% performance gain on most current systems. I would say buy 2 1-gig sticks - they're super cheap now.

 

[deusex]

RAM Prices are dropping faster than rocks - go ahead for 2 gigs

 

[knowsitall]

RAM Prices are dropping faster than rocks - go ahead for 2 gigs

yah i vouch that, ram prices are more then slashed in half in some cases, dont be a cheap ass.

 

[uberman]

2gigs especially for BF2.

 

[Trance183]

DDR is more expensive than DDR2. But i went with 2 gigs for $139+ tax DDR PC3200 400Mhz. Got ripped off but i needed it quick. Oh well. I'll just keep what I got. So the performance gain between 1 stick to 2 sticks is only 3-5 percent. then i'm glad to have gotten 2 sticks since the price difference was only 2 bucks. lol. thanks anyway guys. the question was only answered once.

(Whats the performance difference between 1 stick of 1GB and 2 sticks of 512MB?) In other forms (whats better? 1 gig 1 stick. Or 1gb (2x512) dual channel)?

 

[jackluo923]

Whoa, you got 2gb ddr400 for 139$+ tax? i got 2gb ddd2 667mhzfor 67$ CND plus tax.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

DDR is more expensive than DDR2. But i went with 2 gigs for $139+ tax DDR PC3200 400Mhz. Got ripped off but i needed it quick. Oh well. I'll just keep what I got. So the performance gain between 1 stick to 2 sticks is only 3-5 percent. then i'm glad to have gotten 2 sticks since the price difference was only 2 bucks. lol. thanks anyway guys. the question was only answered once.

(Whats the performance difference between 1 stick of 1GB and 2 sticks of 512MB?) In other forms (whats better? 1 gig 1 stick. Or 1gb (2x512) dual channel)?

Considering what 2gb of DDR used to cost that is still not too bad. And, believe me, the performance gain in BF2 specifically will be WAY more than 3-5%.

 

[Trance183]

ddr is more expensive than ddr2. k. the question again is. whats better dual channel or single channel. and whats the performance difference?

 

[Hatman]

I think each stick gives 64bit transfer a second of something I cant remember exactly, running 2 sticks it in dual channel gets it to go at 128bit transfer.

Those details are very sketchy Ill see if I can find out more for you. What I do know is 2sticks in dual channel is a very good performance gain.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

ddr is more expensive than ddr2. k. the question again is. whats better dual channel or single channel. and whats the performance difference?

Dual channel is better hands down. It is MUCH better in benchmarks providing as much as 40% more bandwidth in synthetic apps. As far as real world, there is no blanket answer as to how much of a performance gain you get in real application usage. It will depend on the application. Lots of comparisons have been done in the past but I have not done any personal testing in a couple of years since virtually any MOBO worth owning is dual channel anyway. If you want charts and graphs I'd suggest Google.

 

[Trance183]

i think we've just about milked this question enough, thanks guys, i'll just stick with 2gb. 1gb+1gb