3 sticks of RAM and dual channel

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Jun 9, 2004
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With RAM prices so low I am tempted to buy more, to put it up to 4GiB (2GiB currently).

Currently, the two 1GiB sticks are in dual channel, and as I only have Vista 32bit, I was thinking of just getting one 2GiB stick. Would the dual channel still operate on the paired 1 GiB, or will introducing a third stick disable it for all?

The price of a 2GiB RAM is less than double of a 1GiB stick, which is why I am wondering.

Edit: It is a G33 chipset with a C2D E6550.
 
Some of the older mobos, this was possible. I think like the noforce 2 chipset.

Why not just go 2x2gb and sell the 1gb set? :)

That way you know for sure.

-D
 
If you put the two 1GB stick in one channel, and the 2GB stick in the other, it should still retain dual channel, but it depends on the motherboard.
 
If you spend most (80%) of your time in a single app/game on your PC, then 2gb of dual channel is probably best.

If you multi-task some or a lot (especially with Vista), then 3gb, even if it is all single channel will probably yield a better experience than 2gb of dual channel.
 
What if all four dimm slots are populated? 4x1GB is any more performance enhancement from using Dual-dual channel.. if there even is such a thing lol?
 
Xazax said:
What if all four dimm slots are populated? 4x1GB is any more performance enhancement from using Dual-dual channel.. if there even is such a thing lol?
Click to expand...

No, that would still be dual-channel. 4x1GB and 2x2GB are fairly equal in terms of performance.
 
I don't see where it was mentioned if the OP has DDR2 or DDR3, but if it's DDR2, there's a link on the front page to get 2x1GB Corsair for $9.99 AR from tigerdirect.
 
Bought the RAM, and it turned out to be 2x 1GiB RAM sticks. So there was no problem with dual-channel after all!
 
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