Dual CH. Memory, is it worth it?

[Booda]

I'm also wondering if it works on a 333 FSB.???

I have a MSI nForce2 Ultra 400 MB, 512 Kingston HyperX 3200 RAM, and a AMD AthlonXP Barton 2800+ (it's 333 FSB). So for me to do this I need to run everything at 333, correct? Which seems it would be easier on the MB and RAM.?.

I want to add another 512 HyperX and run dual channel (my MB supports it). BUT I've been told several conflicting opinions.
1a. To run Dual Ch. you need a "Kit" w/ matched sticks from the manufacture. (even the same model may have different chips on them depending on when it was manufactured)
1b. "Any 2 sticks that are the same model will work... it worked for me" ... so the person says. He also said he's ran Dual CH w/ 2 sticks by different manufactures. Hmmmmm??? I wonder about that one.

2. My MSI Motherboard Users Guide says it supports DDR 266,333,400 and it will run Dual CH if you install in Dimm 1 and 3. But I talked to a guy last week that said to run Dual CH. everything has to support 400 FSB or you won't see a performance increase. It happened to him he said after trying it at 333 FSB. although he builds PCs for a Networking Co. I don't think he knows what he's talking about.

What should I do? I think if I run my System at 333 it will all be OK... but should I just get all new RAM or will just adding another stick of 512 HyperX be ok.

Thanks,
B.

 

[Minion]

If your system Supports Dual Channel Memory then it should work at all memory speeds(266,333,400 ect)....

Poeple might tell you that you need to buy one of those expensive Dual channel memory Kits but in Fact you don"t need them at all, all you have to have is 2 Memory sticks of the exact same Type (Manufacturer, Speed, Timeings ect) so if you put in 2 x 512mb DDR 333 sticks in that are the Same exact sticks then it should work without any problems .....

I have 4 x 256mb DDR 400 in my Machine running Dual Channel and they are just regular memory sticks and they run without any problems but it is an Intel system which are more stable with Dual Channel.....

As for what type of Performance Increase you get it is a Pretty good Speed increase in memory as it doubles your memory bandwidth so your Memory gets freed up much faster......

It is definately a Good thing to have....

Cheers

 

[Booda]

in Fact you don"t need them at all

That's what I was thinking and it makes more sense than the MB being able to tell what Chips are on the stick of RAM.

Now... I don't want to fry my CPU but what if I Ran it at 400FSB? I know the 2800+ Barton was a popular CPU (not sure why, CRS took over)... but I think it was good for Overclocking.???

So since my MB and RAM are 400 if only the CPU was being pushed.... what do ya think.

Thanks,
B.

 

[Mindset]

You wont' notice a real increase in speed unless your running higher end dual channel like 667mhz, 533mhz anyways. but in my opinion, any difference IS a difference however you look at it & even I will except a 1% increase in speed. As for overclocking, it's dangerous because if you don't know what your doing, it's not going to be the CPU you'll fry. To over clock memory, you will be messing with the FSB, which not just for the memory or cpu. overclocking the FSB will also over clock your memory, pci bus's, AGP, chipset & more. Which means, if you fry your system, there goes your cpu, video, motherboard & memory along with possible other things like the IDE bus etc... HOWEVER, from 333mhz to 400mhz really isn't enough speed to fry all those things really. I'm running my dual core 3.0ghz @ 3.4ghz, which upped my memory speed & overall performance of my system. If you do decide to overclock, BE CAREFUL do it in like 2mhz increments.

 

[ocnor]

You can run ANY 2 sticks of ram in dual channel as long as you set the ram timings to that of the slowest stick. As for overclocking, the barton 2800 has a locked multipier which makes it unsuitable to OC. If you can find an XP-M 2400,2500,or 2600 then you will be able to run at least 400 FSB. I run an XP-M 2400 at 2.2 ghz, 400 FSB with 1.475 volts. Nforce 2 mobos allow you to lock the AGP, PCI busses so those things that Mindset mentioned are not a concern when overclocking an AMD.

 

[Booda]

Thanks for the help guys.

Yeah, I'm not really into OCing my recording rig. I need it to be stable and squeezing extra performance isn't worth it to me. I have heard that the HyperX RAM is only good (fast) if it's OC'ed because it's made to do so... but oh well, that's what I got.

I'm just going to get 1 more stick of 512 and run it Dual CH... it can't be any less performance than just running 1G normal.

... I had a Drive go down, luckily the system drive... so I'm getting 2 new 320G Seagate drives and will run them in RAID 1 which I've never done (Been doing manual backups to a 2nd disk) and while I'm making some changes I thought it would be a good time to bump up my RAM.

Take it easy,
B.