NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Home (Inspiron, XPS, Studio) › Help! Opinion on RAM (Dual Channel?)
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Help! Opinion on RAM (Dual Channel?)

post #1 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Hey,
I need your opinion. I purchased my 9300 with 2 256mb sticks of ram. I'd like to upgrade. I thought of purchasing two 512's but I've already learned this lesson with my 9100 when I essentially wasted the ram I bought with the system. So this time, I'm thinking of purchasing a 1 gig stick of Kingmax and combining that with one of my existing 256's. I called the guy at the computer store today and tried to pick his brain at a technical explanation as to what dual channel is and if I would be losing in performance by doing this. He didn't seem to know a whole lot, either that or he was too lazy to elaborate. He explained that dual channel is much more effective and I must pair my ram with two equivalent memory size chips. My idea is to buy this one stick instead of two 512's that way later on, when I want to upgrade to 2 gigs, I simply have to buy the matching 1 gig stick, instead of starting from scratch again.

At the same time I am looking for a substantial performance increase from this and am concerened that 1 gig paired with another 256 stick won't compare to 2 512's? Can anyone with some technical expertise help me in this decision? Thanks
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:41pm
The performance difference with dual channel ram is minimal (less than 3%)
Save yourself the money and pick up a 1GB now, and then later buy another.
The performance from moving from 512MB to 1.25GB will outweigh the loss of performance from dual channel operation..

The 1GB Stick at newegg is $155.
1GB DDR2 @Newegg

The least expensive 512 Sticks are $80
512MB DDR2 @ Newegg

If you go with the 1GB now, you still have an upgrade path in the future.
For $155 now you can have 1.25GB, and later be able to upgrade the other 256 with another 1GB for 2GB.

If you buy the 2x 512MB now, it will cost $10 more and you lose the abilty to upgrade in the future unless you start replacing the ram you already bought.

I personally would get the 1GB from newegg. Then at a later date get another.



Spaz
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:42pm
To run "Dual Channel" you need Matching sticks of Ram. If you by the 1 gig stick now....You will not be able to find a Match for it later.. You need to buy the Pair at the same time....Just get the 1 gig stick and upgrade if you wish later on.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AiricR
To run "Dual Channel" you need Matching sticks of Ram. If you by the 1 gig stick now....You will not be able to find a Match for it later.. You need to buy the Pair at the same time.
You are incorrect. They RECOMMEND, not require that you have matching sticks. However if you buy a different brand with the same specfications it will work just fine.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:46pm
Good luck with the blue screens trying to run Unmatched sticks in dual channel..
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:49pm
I have a system with 2 different brands of DDR Ram running dual channel effectively, its acting as my home server, havent had any BSOD or such till now, oh yea, one of the RAM is Kingston and the other Hynix.

And not to forget many in this forum is using mixed RAM on their i9300 as well if I'm not mistaken. I'm sure they'll post in a moment's time when they wake up.

Reply
Reply
post #7 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:49pm
I'm sorta in the same boat. I dont know whether to go with 512 mb right now (directly off dell) and upgrade later by getting another 512 stick to have a total of 768 later on when I need it? or should I get 256 directly from dell and buy a 512stick off of newegg or something right away but loose the dual channel ability? I really dont know what to do...

Any advice would be great. The max ram I would ever want is 1gb, not 2 like some people have reccommended...

Thanks,
jcll2002
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:50pm
If the ram, has the same specifications.. ie CAS/Trd/Voltage Etc.. but is from a different manufacturer, it will work just fine.

Now back to my point,
From a price to performance viewpoint, the 1GB is the way to go, just upgrade to a second one at a later time. DDR2 for laptops isnt going anywhere.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcll2002
I'm sorta in the same boat. I dont know whether to go with 512 mb right now (directly off dell) and upgrade later by getting another 512 stick to have a total of 768 later on when I need it? or should I get 256 directly from dell and buy a 512stick off of newegg or something right away but loose the dual channel ability? I really dont know what to do...

Any advice would be great. The max ram I would ever want is 1gb, not 2 like some people have reccommended...

Thanks,
jcll2002

The performance difference would be almost non existance. And you say 1GB now, but look 10 years ago when we thought we would never use more than 16MB of ram.

Better to leave an upgrade path open than to completly shut it off for a minimal performance difference.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:52pm
^^No, I mean get the 256mb with the 9300... When you config it, thats the least you can get. I dont mean buy a seperate stick off of them, just buy what I get with the 9300.

Thanks.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:53pm
Yea I reread, and edited my post
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spazilton
If the ram, has the same specifications.. ie CAS/Trd/Voltage Etc.. but is from a different manufacturer, it will work just fine.

Now back to my point,
From a price to performance viewpoint, the 1GB is the way to go, just upgrade to a second one at a later time. DDR2 for laptops isnt going anywhere.
Yup, DDR2 for notebooks are here to stay for at least a year, and its more cost effective.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spazilton
The performance difference would be almost non existance. And you say 1GB now, but look 10 years ago when we thought we would never use more than 16MB of ram.

Better to leave an upgrade path open than to completly shut it off for a minimal performance difference.
Yeah, but Im not going to have this laptop for more than 3+ years, at the most. I have 512, upgraded from 256 on my year old desktop.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:54pm
Jcll2002

Read this it might help shed some light on your decision..

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050119/index.html

Even if you dont upgrade it later, the 1GB stick is $10 less.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 27
4/21/05 at 9:57pm
^^So what that says is that dual channel doesnt really do anything. So basically, I should either get a seperate 1gig stick or a 512stick. (1.25gigs if I buy the 1gig stick)(768 with the 512stick)
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 27
4/21/05 at 10:00pm
Yes, the performance difference is so minor, you'll get more performance boosts going to 1.2GB...
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 27
4/21/05 at 10:07pm
Agreed
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 27
4/21/05 at 10:16pm
Thanks guys. yeah, it seems alot more obvious now. Thanks for the link btw.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 27
4/21/05 at 10:29pm
No problem, thats what this forum is for!

Spaz
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 27
4/21/05 at 11:25pm
I think we all should get 4 GBs of Ram!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Forums › Dell Home (Inspiron, XPS, Studio) › Help! Opinion on RAM (Dual Channel?)