Dual channel is a motherboard feature. There is no difference between
buying a "dual channel" memory kit or buying two sticks seperately, not
physically at least.
Correct, I don't know what the other guy up there is talking about......
THe only distinction that the kits have besides higher price is that the memory in these kits are tested by the manufacture to ensure the memory will work together.
I'm not convinced even most of the dual channel kits are tested. I think most manufactures take a "Dell" stance on these. They just package and sell, and if people complain they replace them. It's cheaper then testing.
My understanding was that dual-channel needed at least PC3200 RAM (400 MHz);
Why would dual channel need a certain speed? Think about it. Dual channel just means two pipes to the memory controller, each capable of a single "channel" worth of bandwidth. You could have memory in dual channel run at 1 Mhz. It would be faster then a single channel at 1 Mhz... but honestly, who cares.
the difference in price is probably due to the fact that if you're not running in dual-channel mode most mobos fall back to PC2700 speeds
Most mainboards? name one. "Most mainboards" will be able to run memory at higher speeds ( and overclock higher ) if they only use 1 stick of memory. And you _will_ run in dual channel if you put a stick of memory in each channel slot and the system detects it all.
so if you're not running dual-channel there's no point in buying the more expensive PC3200 RAM. The fact that you need 2x sticks of identical RAM for dual channel does not add as much to the price as the difference between PC2700/PC3200.
I would preach the opposite.. If you don't have dual channel, or aren't going to run in it ( put all the RAM on the first channel.. it's not a BIOS selection..) , you better get the fastest memory your system supports ( which you really should do anyway )... There is nothing that slows a brand new multi-thousand dollar gaming system more then skimping on the main memory.
Ah, I guess you're right... I was going by my mobo, which has onboard gfx; the FSB for RAM is 400 MHz (dual-channel), but if you use the onboard gfx it will only do 333 MHz single-channel. Hence my confusion.
-JAC _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
