2 x 1MB of RAM bett...
 

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[Closed] 2 x 1MB of RAM better than 1 x 2mb of RAM?

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Hi,

Speed of computer is doing my nut, can't handle the things I have running at the same time.

Currently the RAM is 2 x 512MB, so 1GB in total, want to upgrade to at least 2GB. Thought it'd be just a case of getting a 2GB of RAM, removing one of the 512mb and pushing in the 2GB one but its been suggested to me than 2 x 1GB of RAM would work better, although can't quite work out how.

Is this true or is the advice I have recieved utter rubbish?

Thank you in advance for any helpful answers 🙂

Ta


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 12:56 pm
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yes, it'll run in dual channel mode therefore be (slightly) faster

* assuming motherboard/cpu support it and it is switched on in the BIOS. Some fancy mother boards *can* run dual channel on mismatched sizes


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 12:57 pm
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Depending on the motherboard, it should be faster with 2 matched DIMMs (these days) - but in practice I doubt you will notice a difference. If you've 1Gb, going to 2 or more anyway will make a decent difference.


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 12:59 pm
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Is this true or is the advice I have recieved utter rubbish?

we're talking milli seconds here. no you wont notice.

secondly make sure you motherboard supports a a single 2gb stick most older ones do not.
how many ram slots does your motherboard have? if it has 2 then getting 2 2gb sticks would be great.


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 12:59 pm
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[i]If [/i]your chipset supports it, fitting pairs will allow "dual channel" memory - basically, the memory controller can talk to both sticks at the same time, so is can be faster in certain situations.

Given the price of RAM though, the simple answer is to get two 2Gb sticks and stop worrying about it.

Have a look on Cruicial's website to find out what your system will support.


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 1:01 pm
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Yeah, get some Crucial RAM. I bought some for my iMac, just slotted it in, works perfectly. Under £50 for 8gb (2 x 4gb)
Probably overkill running 12gb of RAM though....... But, hey, why not at that price? 😯


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 1:05 pm
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before you buy loads of new RAM make sure your computer can support it. If its 32 bit I think the limit is 3 or 4 GB. Anymore will be wasted


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 1:10 pm
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before you buy loads of new RAM make sure your computer can support it. If its 32 bit I think the limit is 3 or 4 GB. Anymore will be wasted

No.

2x 2Gb sticks will give you the best combination of RAM possible on a 32-bit Windows system. You'll lose a little (half a gig or so) for technical reasons, but it's still your best option (assuming the [i]hardware [/i]will support it - hence the Crucial memory checker suggestion).


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 1:21 pm
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No.

2x 2Gb sticks will give you the best combination of RAM possible on a 32-bit Windows system. You'll lose a little (half a gig or so) for technical reasons, but it's still your best option (assuming the hardware will support it - hence the Crucial memory checker suggestion).

I was referring to Poddy's comment regarding 2x4gb.


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 1:29 pm
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Ah, fair enough. As you were, then.


 
Posted : 15/12/2011 1:31 pm