# 2GB DDR2 Dual Channel or 4GB Single Channel



## Edito (Apr 4, 2008)

Hi ppl hope everthings good, i need ur advice once again i just want to know what will be better for my sistem between 2GB DDR2 667 in dual Channel or 4GB in single channel... i used to play games like UT3, Crysis, Half Life 2 Episode 2 and work with photoshop and corel draw.


Thanx


----------



## JRMBelgium (Apr 4, 2008)

I would say go for 4GB, Vista benefits greatly from more memory:
http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=3135&Itemid=40&limit=1&limitstart=0

Dual Channel has higher framerate on new games, but more memory clearly gives better performance boost, not just in games, but in the OS in general.


----------



## Deleted member 3 (Apr 4, 2008)

Why exactly are you forced to go single channel with 4GB?


----------



## Edito (Apr 4, 2008)

Cause actually im using vista with 4GB  single channel and i feel a solid performance what im going to do next is to find a compatible ram to make quad channel cause i notice that one of my modules has a diferent frequencies...

Thanx man...


----------



## Edito (Apr 4, 2008)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Why exactly are you forced to go single channel with 4GB?



I don't wanted to say diferent frequencies but diferent timings have a look at this maybe can help. Have a look at the last module the first 3 are running @ 5.5.5.15 but the latest one are running @ 5.5.5.13 how can i fix this one? see my system specs maybe will help.

Thanx


----------



## Wile E (Apr 4, 2008)

Edito said:


> I don't wanted to say diferent frequencies but diferent timings have a look at this maybe can help. Have a look at the last module the first 3 are running @ 5.5.5.15 but the latest one are running @ 5.5.5.13 how can i fix this one? see my system specs maybe will help.
> 
> Thanx


It's not running at 5-5-5-13. It is running at 5-5-5-15. It's rated for 5-5-5-13.

If you want to see if you are running in dual channel, run cpu-z, and click on the memory tab. It will tell you.


----------



## Edito (Apr 4, 2008)

The CPU-Z says Single Channel, sou how can i fix the rate 5.5.5.13???


----------



## JRMBelgium (Apr 4, 2008)

Edito said:


> The CPU-Z says Single Channel, sou how can i fix the rate 5.5.5.13???



Bios.


----------



## Edito (Apr 4, 2008)

im using bios version 0302 do u recomend me to upgade it???


----------



## JRMBelgium (Apr 4, 2008)

You are using 3 brands of memory? LMAO


----------



## Edito (Apr 4, 2008)

two of them are Hynix one is Samsung the one with diferent timing 5.5.5.13 and the other Micron but they all have the same frequencies DDR2 667 and i can make a dual channel with the Hynixs the problems its the samsung rated at 5.5.5.13

 i just need to know how to fix this rate 5.5.5.13


----------



## Shyska (Apr 4, 2008)

So you have 3 memory modules? Take one out and leave 2 identical *size* modules in the first channel (slots can be arranged like this- |A| |B|    |A| |B|, or this - |A| |A|    |B| |B|, cunsult your motherboard manual for that, it's one of the first things described in it).

And let bios take care of the rest, if modules are paired with identical size, bios usually will make their timings and frequencies identical (tune down where it is necessary).


----------



## Edito (Apr 5, 2008)

Ok Shyska ill do that ill try to re arrange the modules cause now my computer are working like this |A| |B| |A| |B| the A A modules are compatible the problem is the second B module which is rated at 5.5.5.13 instead of 5.5.5.15 like the other 3 modules...


----------



## Wile E (Apr 5, 2008)

Edito said:


> Ok Shyska ill do that ill try to re arrange the modules cause now my computer are working like this |A| |B| |A| |B| the A A modules are compatible the problem is the second B module which is rated at 5.5.5.13 instead of 5.5.5.15 like the other 3 modules...



That module being rated 5-5-5-13 isn't the issue here. It's rated 5-5-5-13, but the mobo automatically downclocks it to 5-5-5-15 to match the other sticks. You just have a set of sticks that don't get along. try shuffling them around in different pairs to see if they'll go dual channel.

If they won't go dual channel, don't worry about it. It doesn't make a huge difference these days.


----------



## Edito (Apr 5, 2008)

ok ok ill shuffle the sticks if they don't go Dual Channel ill use it like this... ill let u know soon..

Thanx


----------



## Shyska (Apr 5, 2008)

Just to make sure you understood - can't expect 3 modules to work in dual channel mode.

Modules must be identical *size* per channel, like:

if your channels are distributed like this: |A| |B|    |A| |B|

then this will work: |512MB| |1024MB|    |512MB| |1024MB|
and this will work: |512MB| |512MB|    |512MB| |512MB|
and this will work: |512MB| |0MB|    |512MB| |0MB|

but *won't* work: |512MB| |1024MB|    |512MB| |0MB|
neither will this: |512MB| |512MB|    |512MB| |0MB|


----------



## Morgoth (Apr 6, 2008)

Edito said:


> Cause actually im using vista with 4GB  single channel and i feel a solid performance what im going to do next is to find a compatible ram to make quad channel cause i notice that one of my modules has a diferent frequencies...
> 
> Thanx man...


quad channel doest exist atm for DDR-ram only for FB-dimm
if you want to use trichannel wait for bloomfield..
4 slots = 2x dual channel not quad

Single channel = 64bit
Dual channel = 128bit
Trichannel = 192bit
Quad channel = 256bit


----------



## Edito (Apr 6, 2008)

ohh i understood thanx for the explanations everyone ill use it like this i mean 4GB at single channel and ill buy another kit of ram a 2 sticks of 2GB i think it will be better than 4x1GB... Thanx


----------



## Shyska (Apr 6, 2008)

Your operating system (Vista) is 32bit, so you can only use 4GB (not even fully) of RAM.


----------



## Edito (Apr 6, 2008)

yeah i just can't use 4gbGB of ram in 32bit, what im going to do is: buy 2 sticks of 2GB to replace the ones i have now...


----------

