Which one is better 512MB RAM x 2 or 1GB RAM?

[Guest]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

On my motherboard, there are 4 slots for DDR RAM, at this moment, I get 2 x
512 MB DDR RAM, and would like to add 1GB DDR RAM more, then totally I get 2
GB DDR RAM. Does anyone have any suggestions whether I should add 2 x 512 MB
DDR RAM to fill all 4 slots or I should add a single 1 GB DDR RAM? Which
approach is better for memory?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
Eric

 

[John]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

On my motherboard, there are 4 slots for DDR RAM, at this moment, I get 2
x
512 MB DDR RAM, and would like to add 1GB DDR RAM more, then totally I get
2
GB DDR RAM. Does anyone have any suggestions whether I should add 2 x 512
MB
DDR RAM to fill all 4 slots or I should add a single 1 GB DDR RAM? Which
approach is better for memory?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions
Eric

If your motherboard supports dual channel access to memory then
2x512 would be better. If the motherboard supports dual channel
memory the memory slots are color coded. Your current memory
should be in slots with the same color. If you add a 1 GB module,
dual channel access will be disabled.

 

[LVTravel]

IMHO it is up to the system's motherboard as to whether it will take one 1GB
chip or if two 512MB chips are required. Some will work that way while other
systems won't. You can read the manual for the system or motherboard or use
www.crucial.com memory checker to determine exactly what will work in the
system

If you determine that either combination will work I personally would
purchase the one chip upgrade to leave room for a second 1GB chip later. In
many cases one 1GB chip is actually cheaper than two 512MB chips also.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

On my motherboard, there are 4 slots for DDR RAM, at this moment, I
get 2 x 512 MB DDR RAM, and would like to add 1GB DDR RAM more,
then totally I get 2 GB DDR RAM. Does anyone have any suggestions
whether I should add 2 x 512 MB DDR RAM to fill all 4 slots or I
should add a single 1 GB DDR RAM? Which approach is better for
memory?

Either will work and give you the same noticable performance increase (none
unless you actually think you utilize more than 1GB memory at any given
time...)

Your only considerations would be...
- Can you get just one chip or does it require a matching pair?
- Will I ever need to expand further than 2GB memory?
- Do I even need to expand to 2GB of memory?

Chances are the answers are:
- One chip will work fine.
- Doubtful, unless you are already utilizing a 64 bit OS and 64 bit
applications and do a lot of processing of large data sets/large in-memory
calculations.
- Doubtful, unless you are already doing a lot of processing of large data
sets/large in-memory calculations.

 

[DL]

Thats allmost an unanswerable question as different motherboards have
specific requirements
Your motherboard manual should have details of memory configeration.
www.crucile.com and use there memory adviser, specific to your motherboard
or system

 

[Curt Christianson]

I think you meant www.crucial.com . <g>

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
www.aumha.org
Practically Nerded,...
http://dundats.mvps.org/Index.htm

| Thats allmost an unanswerable question as different motherboards have
| specific requirements
| Your motherboard manual should have details of memory configeration.
| www.crucile.com and use there memory adviser, specific to your motherboard
| or system
|
| | > Does anyone have any suggestions?
| >
| > On my motherboard, there are 4 slots for DDR RAM, at this moment, I get
2
| > x
| > 512 MB DDR RAM, and would like to add 1GB DDR RAM more, then totally I
get
| > 2
| > GB DDR RAM. Does anyone have any suggestions whether I should add 2 x
512
| > MB
| > DDR RAM to fill all 4 slots or I should add a single 1 GB DDR RAM? Which
| > approach is better for memory?
| > Thanks in advance for any suggestions
| > Eric
|
|

 

[Guest]

Thank everyone very much for suggestions

My motherboard supports Dual-Channel DDR333.
Does Window XP support up to 2 GB for any application?
If I want to improvement the calculation performance, should I upgrade into
[3 GB by 2 x 1GB RAM + 2 x 512 MB RAM] or [2 GB by 4 x 512 MB RAM]? Does
window XP support maximum 2 GB for all applications or each application?

Refer to http://www.decisionmodels.com/memlimitsc.htm
"Excel 2003 is officially limited to 1 Gigabyte (GB) of memory. This limit
appears to be a limit on the working set memory used by the Excel process,
which is the memory reported by Windows Task Manager."

If I run two copy Excel 2003 Applications at the same time, does it make any
difference with 3GB or 2GB RAM?

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank everyone very much for suggestions
Eric

 

[Lil' Dave]

Thank everyone very much for suggestions

My motherboard supports Dual-Channel DDR333.
Does Window XP support up to 2 GB for any application?
If I want to improvement the calculation performance, should I upgrade
into
[3 GB by 2 x 1GB RAM + 2 x 512 MB RAM] or [2 GB by 4 x 512 MB RAM]? Does
window XP support maximum 2 GB for all applications or each application?

Refer to http://www.decisionmodels.com/memlimitsc.htm
"Excel 2003 is officially limited to 1 Gigabyte (GB) of memory. This limit
appears to be a limit on the working set memory used by the Excel process,
which is the memory reported by Windows Task Manager."

If I run two copy Excel 2003 Applications at the same time, does it make
any
difference with 3GB or 2GB RAM?

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank everyone very much for suggestions
Eric

If your motherboard supports dual channel access to memory then
2x512 would be better. If the motherboard supports dual channel
memory the memory slots are color coded. Your current memory
should be in slots with the same color. If you add a 1 GB module,
dual channel access will be disabled.

If you're vying for dual channel, three 1GB modules won't work. Can only be
done in pairs. Any additions will disable dual channel. The correct module
slots must be used. My experience also is a motherboard I used the RAM
module slots were not color coded as another post suggested. Was noted in
the motherboard manual. And further confirmed by the motherboard
manufacturer's website FAQ.
Dave

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Thank everyone very much for suggestions

My motherboard supports Dual-Channel DDR333.
Does Window XP support up to 2 GB for any application?
If I want to improvement the calculation performance, should I
upgrade into [3 GB by 2 x 1GB RAM + 2 x 512 MB RAM] or [2 GB by 4 x
512 MB RAM]? Does window XP support maximum 2 GB for all
applications or each application?

Refer to http://www.decisionmodels.com/memlimitsc.htm
"Excel 2003 is officially limited to 1 Gigabyte (GB) of memory.
This limit appears to be a limit on the working set memory used by
the Excel process, which is the memory reported by Windows Task
Manager."

If I run two copy Excel 2003 Applications at the same time, does it
make any difference with 3GB or 2GB RAM?

You need to get memory in pairs then...

Also - seeing that you are speaking about office products and nothing like
matlab, simulink, 3dstudio, autodesk, etc... it is doubtful you will be
seeing any performance increase by getting more than 1GB of memory.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

On my motherboard, there are 4 slots for DDR RAM, at this moment, I get 2 x
512 MB DDR RAM, and would like to add 1GB DDR RAM more, then totally I get 2
GB DDR RAM. Does anyone have any suggestions whether I should add 2 x 512 MB
DDR RAM to fill all 4 slots or I should add a single 1 GB DDR RAM? Which
approach is better for memory?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions

You've already gotten answers to your specific question, but let me
add another comment:

2GB of RAM is *way* more than most people running XP can make
effective use of. Despite the advice of those who say that more RAM
means better performance, that is true only up to a point. 2GB is
considerably past that point for almost everyone.

What apps do you run? Unless you do things like video editing or
editing large photographic images, even 1GB is way more than
necessary. For normal business applications, most people see no
performance gains by going past 512MB, and often even 256MB is enough