4x1GB or 2x2GB ?

[mis3]

I can see that 2 X 2 GB is better for 4 x 1 GB for future upgrade.

However, there are much more selections in 1 x 4 GB (at least in my local stores) and I can see that the 2 GB RAMs are more expensive.

I read that some boards cannot work with 4 sticks of RAMs? Is this a common problem? Should all 4 stick be the same make and model?

[ashmedai]

I seem to see this question a lot?

If you look online, the price difference between the two configurations tends to approach zero. The gap is bigger when a type of memory is recently released since higher densities generally have more kinks to work out. Sometimes they also don't overclock as well, but since DDR2 it pretty mature by now, neither is really an issue.

Some *memory controllers* have issues with more sticks because it's more work to drive. Usually you just need to tweak them a little. (The memory controller may or may not be on the motherboard depending on the platform, there's a bit of a trend to move it to being on the CPU since this gives some latency gains.)

I'd go for the 2GB sticks given the choice, but there's not a major reason not to use the 1GB sticks if there's a good sale et cetera.

[mis3]

This is the link to my local store. http://www.pcvonline.com/products.aspx?cat=Memory&sub=DDR2%20Memory&sub2=

You can see that most of the RAM are 2 x 1 GB kit with only 2 2 x 2 GB kits. There are all the 4 GB kit I could find in this site:

$228 OCZ 4G (2 x 2GB) 667DDR2 XTC Vista Upgrade Edition(5-5-5-15) - OCZ2VU6674GK
$294 OCZ 4G (2 x 2GB) DDR2800 Vista Performance Platinum Edition(5-4-4-18) - OCZ2P8004GK
$183 OCZ 4Gb (4 x1GB) Gold XTC Edition DDR2-800 Quad Kit (5-5-5-18) - OCZ2G8004GQ
$185 OCZ 4Gb (4 x 1GB) Platinum XTC Edition DDR2-800 Quad Kit (4-5-4-18) - OCZ2P8004GQ

Given the choices in this URL, which RAM would you buy? There are a lot of choices for 4 x 1 GB option.

I prefer to buy from this store because if there is any compatibility issue, they will exchange it.

[(cf)Eclipse]

i would get the first ocz in that list. do you plan on oc'ing much?

[matrix563]

i have that vista upgrade edition ram. i'm not very happy with it, mostly because one stick was DOA. the rma took almost 3 weeks which was unacceptable. at least i had my lappy. i'd go witha 2gbx2 gskill kit. i wish i had just done that. never had an issue with gskill :(

[mis3]

i would get the first ocz in that list. do you plan on oc'ing much?

I plan on bring my Q6600-G0 to 2.8-3.0 GHz.

The first one is only 667 MHz, shouldn't I get those with 800 MHz?

[mis3]

i have that vista upgrade edition ram. i'm not very happy with it, mostly because one stick was DOA. the rma took almost 3 weeks which was unacceptable. at least i had my lappy. i'd go witha 2gbx2 gskill kit. i wish i had just done that. never had an issue with gskill :(

This is exactly why I prefer to get the components from the same store. If any stick is DOA, they would just replace it right away.

This was what happened with the P5K-Premium. I bought all components from the same store and they built the PC for me. I could not install OS because of SATA issues (many Premium owners have this problem), I simply bought the PC back to them. Now I have to find another motherboard!