memory help. 2 gigs or 4 gigs

It's better to stick with two sticks in dual channel mode. The reason is mainly for stability purposes, especially in regards to overclocking.

And here are the correct links for the 2x1GB Crucial Ballistix kit, and for either the A-DATA or G.Skill 4GB kits (that I would recommend off the top of my head... there's virtually no difference between the two listed brands).
 
so your telling me it's better for 2 slots instead of 4 slots of ram? when i already have 2 gigs but need another 2.

I just want to mention also that I ALREADY have 2 gigs of crucial. I just want to know if I should get another 2 or A whole new 4 gig 2 sticks from G-skill....
 
I would like to see some links that show that a 2 x 2gig kit is significantly faster than 4x1gig sticks. IMHO it would need to be 20% faster to justify the greater expense.
 
Again, it's not that having a 2x2GB kit is faster, but that a 4x1GB setup may lead to stability issues.

I can't speak from personal experience, but there have been (many) reports that using all four RAM slots can cause stability issues, from relaxing the memory timings to requiring more voltage to run everything. Basically, it stresses the motherboard more to use all four slots than it does to use only two... and that's before you factor in single/dual channel modes and overclocking.

Below is the simplest explanation I can give you as to why you should only use two sticks:

Danny Bui said:
It's harder to OC with four sticks of RAM than with two. Also, two sticks of RAM will be less of a burden on the MCH of the motherboard. And finally, two sticks of RAM will give you the option to add more RAM later on.
Click to expand...

If you want a better/more accurate reason, ask the guys that frequent the Memory forum.

Having said all of that, I'm not saying that you can't use all four slots. I'm just saying that you may run into problems, either now or at some point in the future, by doing so.
 
Some motherboards downclock the memory when four sticks are in use, but run full-speed with two sticks. My Asus A8N-E is one of them.
 
If you're not overclocking, you should be fine with 4 sticks of RAM. However, if you're planning to OC, do note that in some cases, people's OC has been limited due to having four sticks of RAM. However, I'm not 100% sure what will happen if you keep the RAM at their default speeds and the FSB and RAM at a 1:1 ratio.
 
I'll give you my personal experience... So, I grabbed another 2GB of ballistix to go with my current 2GB of ballistix. My E6750 WAS OC'd to 3.8Ghz. When I added the other two sticks, my OC dropped to 3.6Ghz, and thats with 2.3v going to the RAM and +0.2v going to the MCH.

On another system I built, I grabbed another 2GB of G-Skill NQ sticks to go with the current pair. The E6400 was OC'd to 3.6Ghz, and with the addition of the two more sticks, I was still able to maintain a 3.6Ghz OC. The reason? These sticks are much lower voltage than the Ballistix. (1.8v for two sticks, 1.9v for 4 sticks)
 
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