computer memory question

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

@subman1

I will have to check for sure what sticks I have but with that said, would it be best to just add a 1 gig along with a 512 stick of the same memory type for better performance?

More memory is always better. Doesn't help on a 32 bit system to go past 3 GB since you can only use extra memory beyond that point for the Windows kernel, but on an XP box, I'd not go anywhere less than 1.5 GB for the games today. On SHIV, you will notice a marked improvement with more memory, especially in the loading screens. 1 GB is just not enough anymore.

ONe thing I forgot to mention - if you have a dual channel system, you must used matched memory to get the full benefit out of it. That allows 4 transactions per clock cycle instead of the DDR (Stands for double data rate) 2 transactions per clock cycle.

3200 in a dual channel system can have a peak bandwidth of 6.4 GB/sec. Pretty fast for normal memory.

-S

PS. The way a dual channel system works is that it hits each module indpendantly in parallel. It is kind of like a RAID 0 drive system. In a single clock cycle, you hit both RAM modules independantly, so you can do 2 transactions on the first, and 2 transactions on the second, resulting in a total of 4 transactions, effectively doubling the normal RAM throughput - this is why you need 2 matched memory modules - they need to be the same size and same timing - preferably modules made from the same batch or manufactured together at the exact same time.