SPCR

I am planning to do a major upgrade this winter, and so far the core components that I have shortlisted are:

AMD X2 3800+
DFI nForrce4 SLI-DR
Gainward 6600gt (dual DVI)

The only thing that I am indecicive about is the ram. Idealy I would want 2x1gb, but due to my breaking of the bank as it already is, I cannot afford it ATM. Is it acceptable to buy two memories of the same model nr and have in dual channel mode, or must they be in a dual channel pack?

http://www.komplett.se/k/kl.asp?bn=10529

That is the store that I will purchase the ram from. The main ram modules that I find any good ATM are Twinmos's ram, namely their 2x512 pack and their 1gb module.

I will need lots of ram later on, because I do lots of modeling, image work, and other memory intensive work.

Qwertyiopisme wrote: Is it acceptable to buy two memories of the same model nr and have in dual channel mode, or must they be in a dual channel pack?

The only advantage of those 'dual channel packs' is that the memory sticks have been verified to work together. Most of the time you could just pick up two sticks of same size and make and they should work together. Just be sure to get memory from a well known manufacturer. Twinmos should be fine.

If you do get one now and one later, does it really matter that it runs in dual-channel mode? I mean, how much impact will it really have? I know it's "better" but that word has lost its meaning along the way.

dual channel mode does make quite a bit of difference on my rig with regards to the benchmarks scores. I think vertigo might be refering to the difference between 1T and 2T settings. Anyhow, thats for debate somewhere else. The onlt difference I would point out is that getting 1gb sticks means that the ram will have slightly slower timings. The current max for 512mb is 2-2-2-5 while its 2-3-2-5 for the 1gb sticks. I know that doesn't make a whole lot of different but if you're looking for all the speed you can acquire. On another note I do believe that the 1gb sticks are also a little more expesive per mb than the 512 but I could be wrong. And also, I remember hearing something about a decreased level of performance if using all 4 memory slots...but then again I could just be making that up.

~best of luck to you

4 sticks get reduced performance and a difficult time with 1T settings. 1T settings has more of an effect on gaming performance than tweaks to bandwidth or making 3 3 3 8 to 2 3 2 8 and such.

1 gig sticks i have, and they run at 1T timings. Windows Vista needs 2 gigs to game with, you wouldnt want to start off with all the slots taken!

I would rather have 1 channel filled and save up money for another stick on a 939 board rather than get some 512's. OCZ has an amazing set of 1024 sticks to buy. not super pricey, not cheap. Worth the investment though, anandtech.com has done a short review of them, worth reading, seems excellent.
512's are for overclockers wanting to get more numbers on benchmark tests, in truth, windows, firefox, games, more real things enjoy 2 gigs of memory. i have tested this 6 times now with pentium and a64 systems. going over the 1 gig barrier eased up and made everything more enjoyable.

I concur, buy one stick now - you'll thank yourself later.

Be aware that buying the same model doesn't always get you the same ram. I bought a 2x512 of kingston in december, then another in march, same model, but the chips on the sticks were from different manufacturers. Not sure if that'll affect dual channel working or not.

most likely it wont work