which one is better 2x512 or a 1GB RAM card?

Question

i will probably buy a new computer before upgrading the RAM again. so will the two 512 be faster than one 1gb card

Answer 1

To the above poster, 1gb actually is 1024mb so that's even.
As far as the past tests have gone, usually 512mb sticks have better timings (which is different than speed) than a 1GB stick.

And if your motherboard supports dual channel, definitely go for 2x512 sticks.

Answer 2

I also saw the tests where 1 512 RAM was tested against 2 256 RAM and the 2 256 RAM tested faster.

Reason given was that the CPU accessed BOTH Channels of the RAM versus only 1 Channel with the 512.

I had known this already from my own experiments and for the same reason given in their tests.

Answer 3

It all depends on your motherboard
If it supports Dual Channel RAM, then the 2 sticks of 512 will be much faster.
If not, then i would suggest the 1gb of RAM stick so you can always have room to upgrade

Answer 4

The number of DIMMs makes hardly any difference. I saw a test a while back that actually showed 4 DIMMs of smaller amounts outperforming 1 or 2 DIMMs of the same capacity.

Take that very lightly with a grain of salt, however. The differences observed are so slight that only a test or benchmark would pick it up. You would never notice it.

Also, keep in mind that many systems require "dual-channel" configurations to take advantage of fast bus speeds. In order to have dual-channel, you must have at least 2 DIMMs installed, preferably identical for best performance. Check the specs of your system to be sure that's something you need.

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"therightangle" post below is mistaken. The test he's referring to is an old one back before the Athlon 64 came out. The old AMD Athlon XP's only had a 400MHz frontside bus (FSB) or slower. Therefore, a single module of DDR memory at the same speed was all you needed. Dual-channel didn't help much at all.

However, in newer systems from both Intel and AMD that have very fast FSB's, dual-channel is a necessity. Without it, you are crippling your system's potential. Be careful what you recommend to others unless you really know what you're talking about.

Answer 5

1GB card. in case you could improve to a max of one million GB then get the 2x512. yet in case you could improve higher than 1GB than use a million GB playing cards because the more recent and extra valuable mobo's will assist you improve to higher capacities and also you're extra valuable off with a million GIG sticks so that you'll be able to improve to higher RAM.

Answer 6

Actually is similiarly same speed.Just the different is one is one piece of 1GB RAM and two 512 MB RAM.Well for me I will buy two 512 MB RAM because it will more savety if one of them damaged still can use it.Then you use directly 1 GB RAM if damaged you difficult to do your work therefore you buy two 512 RAM for security.So,that is my opinion.

Answer 7

No, unless they are different kinds of card as well as different sizes. For example, all PC3200 memory cards run at the same speed, and that speed is determined by the computer's mother board and processor. When buying additional memory, be sure to get the same kind as is already in the machine.

Answer 8

I think the 2x512 would be better because thats 24 more gb I know thats not much but it would still be good and save you some money probably

Answer 9

I would go with the 512 chips. If anything goes wrong with one of the memories, you will still have 512 to operate with, whereas if the one gig chip goes down, the machine becomes inoperable until the one gig chip is replaced.

Answer 10

Just go for the cheaper one. There were some tests recently on dual-channel memory and for the most part they performed similarly, I think only intensive programs like photoshop performed better with dual channel... while the single chip actually did better while gaming. Though this isn't your question per-se but i hope it clears some things up.

Speed should be pretty negligible... just stick to name brand... crucial, mushkin, kingston...