4x1 sticks or 2x2 sticks?

I

infamus

Gawd
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Messages
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Is there a difference in performance at all between the 2 sets?

im using vista64 btw
 
No performance difference. However there is a slight overclock difference. From what I can see, overclocking with four sticks of RAM is a bit more difficult since you now have a ton of votlage going into and from the MCH or NB. As a result some OCs can be unstable with four sticks of RAM when it's perfectly stable with 2 sticks of RAM.

With that said, I'm running 4 x 1GB sticks with the CPU and RAM at a 1:1 ratio. and my OC is still pretty stable. However, if I plan to OC past 3.2Ghz and therefore am required to OC past DDR2 800 speeds, most likely then I'll have some stability issues with those four sticks of RAM.
 
Most 1GB sticks will OC higher than their 2GB counterparts at this point in time. So a 4x1GB configuration is capable of higher clocks than a 2x2GB setup. I have heard of quite a few people doing 4x1 1200cl5, it doesn't really get much better than that for DDR2.
 
yes 4 1G sticks will oc higher but MAN the heat and everything is a B and getting 1:1 on some boards is impossible.

I would go 2x2G

now the question is which will OC like a mother, low voltage, and do it at 1:1 YEA AND CHEAP LOL
 
There are plenty of newer 4GB 2x2 kits that perform impressively.

Ballistix Tracers, will do 4-4-4-12 800mhz @ 1.8v and 5-5-5-15 1120mhz @ 2.2v according to this review:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Crucial/Ballistix_Tracer_Red/4.html

The OCZ ReaperX HPC 2x2 was able to do 920 MHz at 4-4-3-12
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/OCZ/PC2-6400_Reaper_X/4.html

The Corsair XMS2 DHX kit is nothing to sneeze at either
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?/memory/corsair_xms2_dhx_pc2-6400_4gb_kit/1

The Mushkin XP2-6400 DDR2-800 kit also hit 1120mhz here at cas5 (or 4-4-4-8 @ 800mhz, low volts) : http://www.ninjalane.com/display.aspx?docname=mushkin-hp2-6400&page=3

The Patriot PC2-6400 4GB LL kit hit 1130mhz at 4-5-5-12, 2.1v
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1316/3/patriot_memory_pc2_6400_4gb_ll_ddr2_kit/index.html

I haven't seen anything recent from Geil, G.Skill and some of the other usual suspects, although they might be worth investigating.

As long as you're not hell bent on Cas3, there are lots of high performing 2x2 4GB kits.I'm not sure if even 4x1 will be stable at cas3.
 
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