1*512M vs 2*256M DDR RAM?

[davyzhu]

Hi all,
I want to buy a new PC. And 1*512M and 2*256M DDR RAM, which better?
From the performance aspect and why?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Best regards,
Davy

 

[rkdrkd]

1*512M is cheaper than 2*256M..So go for 1*512M if you can afford..

 

[aravind]

when speed point of view better buy 1*512MB ram.
2*256 will reduce ur performance.
but if u face problem u will loose 512 but if u buy 2*256 then u will loose only one at a time.
finally my idea is buy 512 *1. is good

 

[aze]

Hi,
1*512 is better because of the cpu communicate with 1 device is faster then with 2, and most PCs have two slots for ddram if you use 2*256 you monopolise both slots, if you use 1*512 you can in the future add an other ddram!

aze.

 

[Big Boy]

Personally, having 1 or 2 modules, speedwize, should not make any difference. The memory controler operate at the same time on all the modules. The time it wait from the modules doesn't 'add-up'.

Where it will come handy later is if you wish to add memory. If you have only 2 slots for example, and you have 2 modules of 256MB, then, adding memory will involve loosing a 256M module. So, if you wish to upgrade to 1GB, and add another 512MB, if all slots are took, you'll have to remove one 256MB module, ence ending up with 768MB (256MB + 512MB). If you start with a single 512MB, then, it is easy to add more memory.

Moreover, if it's cheaper to buy 1 512MB than 2 512MB, then the choice is obvious.

One thinking you could have is if you upgrade your system later, it is easy to take a single 512MB memory to add to your new board but in practice, I never seen memory technologies which last long enough. Ex: I do have nice DDR-266 in my system. This was top of the line when I baught it. But even though I have 512MB, I would not transfer it in a new system that support DDR 400 or 533!

 

[FoxyRick]

Hi davyzhu,

It depends on the mainboard and CPU. I have two Athlon XP64 systems, both of which can operate two DIMM's in parallel (called dual channel), increasing the memory bandwidth quite a lot. The boards will operate with just one, but not as fast.

I don't know how much difference this really makes in the real world. If you are thinking about a system like this, read some reviews about memory benchmarking.

MSI K8N Diamond Mobo, Athlon64 3500+ CPU, 2 sticks x 1GB corsair RAM.

FoxyRick.

 

[Element_115]

Buy the 1*512 because this way you will be able to ultimately put
more RAM in! Typically the are only 3 or 4 RAM slots. If you buy
2*256 the you can only get 768MB(3-slots) or 1512MB(4-slots).


P.S. Make sure that when you "up grade" to 512 that they don't give
you 2*256.

 

[power-twq]

I think their performance will be same.

but because a mainboard has limited memory slots,

if you use 1*512M, you can increase your computer's

memory capacity in the future.

best regards

Hi all,
I want to buy a new PC. And 1*512M and 2*256M DDR RAM, which better?
From the performance aspect and why?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Best regards,
Davy