Hello everyone, This is my first time posting here but there seems to be a wealth of information! Anyways, my problem is this: My girlfriend wants to build a new computer and is asking me to help her, we got almost everything picked out but we are hesitant on two choices of RAM and need some clairification. so to boil it down to a nutshell here it is: in your opinion should we get OCZ 1Gb PC3200 DDR Premier Dual Channel Series (2 x 512Mb), with timings at 2.5-3-3-7 for $134.99 or do you think that OCZ 2Gb PC3200 DDR Dual Value Series (2 X 1Gb, with timings of 3-4-4-8 and at a price of $269.99. The only kicker is that the 2 gigs does NOT say it is dual channel, therefore I figure it can't do dual channel. So would the preformance increase in a 2gig non dual channel with sligtly slower timings (i know neither are fantastic), greatly increase on 1gigs with faster timings AND dual channel, especially at the $135 dollar increase? Also, since you may wonder, she is planning on getting a 64bit 3500+ with the ASUS Asus® A8N SLI Premium motherboard if it matters. Any informative reply would be MUCH appreciated! Thank you very much!!!

1st of all, the difference between a A64 3200+ & 3500+ would be unnoticeable...save some money & get the 3200+ Venice core. 1GB RAM (2 x 512MB) is more than sufficient. You don't need 2GB of RAM unless you do lots of video editting or CAD. And there is no such thing as "dual channel RAM". Dual channel is a function of the motherboard, not the RAM...but RAM is sold in "dual channel kits" to be run on boards that support "dual channel mode". There's no reason to spend $135 on OCZ when there are cheaper alternatives that are just as good. How about this Corsair PC3200 (2 x 512MB) CL 2.5 for less than $90...it gets a 5/5 rating with 550+ customer reviews: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 Will you ever use SLi? How about the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D motherboard? Save some bucks on this refurbed one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP1

OK so all DDR ram can function in dual channel mode is what you are saying? Also, my prices are canadian so watch out! That corsair seems a good price if the timing is 2.5 on CL, but i can't find it acutally saying that anywhere, but ANYWAYS, for the future do you think games will be pushing demand for up to 2 gigs of memory? Chances are she might be able to find just crappy value ram for cheaper and same timings as that OCZ stuff. She is picky on getting "new" things so a refurb mobo wouldn't be that great (blame her not me ;) ) anyways, you have already helped a great deal and thank you :)

That's some gf you have got, None of mine ever could built one, actually knew nothing about PCs. The one I have got now doesn't either. LOL :) All that mine like is to have fun and spend my money :)))) Lider

Thank you killer! I guess my question was answered, albiet in a round about way. im pretty sure that 2gigs at looser timings would still be faster than 1 gig at slightly timings since then can both do dual channel.

YOu are Welcome, Killer Lider

OK...you didn't say you were from Canada in your original post. Newegg doesn't ship to Canada so that's out. Not that it'll matter since you can't order from them, but their refurbed boards are open box customer returns. I've gotten a couple of boards & several video cards from there with no probs at all. My current Asus board & 9550 video card were from the refurbed section. "OK so all DDR ram can function in dual channel mode is what you are saying?" Not exactly...obviously the motherboard has to support dual channel mode, but the RAM should be of matching specs, some will tell you they must be identical. There's no guarantee that a stick of "brand A" RAM will work in dual channel mode with a stick of "brand B". That's why these "dual channel kits" were developed...to insure that the 2 sticks would be compatible with each other & work in dual channel mode. I don't see any games actually requiring 2GB of RAM for a while. 2 x 512MB should be fine...the performance difference beyond a GB is virtually undetectable. The Corsair RAM that I gave a link to above is "ValueSelect RAM" but I'd hardly consider it crappy ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP1