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that is the question.
hey all,
what might be the advantage in having two sets of 512 RAM as opposed to 1 set of 1024 RAM, if any?The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

no advantage besides dual channel mode
that is if your motherboard even supports dual channel mode
dual channel is running 2 identical sticks of ram at double the speedhowever, on AMD Athlon systems you will not notice the difference when in dual channel mode since you are limited by your processor's fsb
one disadvantage tho of running 2 sticks is that you will have used up 2 ram slots when you could just get one stick and use only 1 slot
what is painfully obvious to one person might be just painful to the other

That depends if you're gonna run your ram in dual channels. Your motherboard will tell you if you can run your memory in dual channels. Dual channel memory will allow two channels of memory to be accessed at the same time as opposed to one, thus doubling your bandwidth. If you can't run dual channels, then the advantage of 2x512 sticks to 1x1024 stick does not exist.

the advantage hardly exists anyway since he's running an Athlon system
what is painfully obvious to one person might be just painful to the other

ok cool,
what if i can dual channel (i am getting a new computer btw), and i use two different kinds of RAM, will this do bad things to my system. would there be any point in doing this?
thanks, i got your responses within 20 minutes of posting, that's awesome.The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

Like giggles said:
"dual channel is running 2 identical sticks of ram at double the speed"
You need to go with the "identical" part of that statement.
Unlikely anything "bad" would happen but, it is likely nothing "good" would happen either with mismatched memory.
Skip

if you mean mix pc2700 and pc3200 then no, no harm will be done
but if you mean mix kingston with crucial well then you could have problems but its not very likely
but why would you? it would be easiest to buy 2 of the exact same speed and brand that way you know that they will work together and you can possibly run them in dual channel mode later if you want to
(ppl have been able to buy 2 of the same make and model of ram and run them in dual channel mode instead of buying an expensive kit of matched sticks of ram)
but if you mix 2 brands or 2 speeds then you will not be able to run in dual channel mode, you can buy kits of ram which can be run in dual channel mode they just cost a lot and i would not reccomend buying them especialy if you're buying an AMD systemwhat is painfully obvious to one person might be just painful to the other

Although manufacturers offer dual channel socket A boards, I really don't think there's any point in running in dual mode...there's no performance to be gained & there's the possibilty of probs if you don't run a matched pair.
My next question would be, do you really "need" 1 GB of RAM?

thanks,
giggles-"if you mean mix kingston with crucial well then you could have problems but its not very likely
but why would you?"i thought that maybe you could get the advantages of both models (and i suppose disadvantages). however, i am taking heed to this
"Unlikely anything "bad" would happen but, it is likely nothing "good" would happen either with mismatched memory."
from skip, so that answers that question.
any other opinions are welcome, but otherwise thank you to everybody for your help :-)
The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

jam,
yeah i do need 1GB RAM i run a whole lot of music software which require crap loads of RAM or the sound comes out all choppy and it jumps often, at the moment i have 512 and it still jumps every now and then.
that's why i'm asking, i should have given the background first.
thanks again.The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

"i thought that maybe you could get the advantages of both models (and i suppose disadvantages). however, i am taking heed to this"
well, there's really no advantage or disadvantage that one has over the other,
they're both 512mb sticks of high quality ram
i suppose maybe one will be cheaper or slightly more stable than the other one but dont loose sleep over it, kno what i meannow if you must have the gig of ram and you can pay for it then go for it
newer games have shown that more than 512mb of ram can improve performance and if you're going to be doing ram consuming tasks like you said then go for it
just try to get the same make and model like i said earlier because this way you know that they will work together and they will definetly have the same timings etc...
what is painfully obvious to one person might be just painful to the other

ok, i'll play it safe.
thanks for all your help giggles and everyone for answering my questions absolutely precisely.
The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

no problem
i hope your system runs perfectly ;)what is painfully obvious to one person might be just painful to the other

Come over to the other side and get yourself a decent Intel cpu with a 800mhz fsb and stick the dual frequency ram onto your board . Jam made a good point when he said do you reall need 1gb. 512 will run quite well. 1 gb is for heavy heavy

i posted on this earlier. i run some music making programs which are rather heavy duty, they currently jump when i load them up with a lot of instrumentation, it's not overly problematic but it has its obvious disadvantages. so the full gig would be useful for me, that's why i'm here, to see how i can get the most of my RAM.
The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

Don't make me laugh Ron! The other side, lol.
You need a BETTER soundcard if you have sound problems.
If you are getting crackly, choppy sound, and you have a VIA chipset and a Soundblaster card, you need to change the card, as you are having the same problm tons of others had including myself. I now use a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. It is awesom.

well, the plot thickens.
"If you are getting crackly, choppy sound, and you have a VIA chipset and a Soundblaster card, you need to change the card" - XxxfrancisxxxUSA
that set up is exactly what i have. i shall have to look into the soundcard issue, it's not crackly all the time, just every now and then, it's like when you have a cd with a scratch and it jumps.
well, regardless i still have the RAM issue cos i'm about to step up the music program and add a few more things to it, and start recording, that's where it gets heavy.XxxfrancisxxxUSA,
are you recording aswell, or did you just have card problems? would you happen to know (if you are in fact in the music business) if that card is available in australia, i'm assuming you're from the USA, don't know where i got that from......The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

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