The Dual Channel Difference

[ntloser]

Hi,

I just got a new motherboard and CPU. Unfortunately I only have one DDR stick in right now so I have to run in single channel mode.
At normal clock speed, I checked some CPU benchmarks in Sandra and my CPU seems to be on par with a 2.8B

Will this change once I add add another stick of DDR and start running in dual channel mode?

Prior to the Sandra test, I bumped up the FSB 5% PAT ON and everything was okay temp wise but the computer seemed less responsive.

I haven't had a dual channel P4 board that could run in single channel mode (from 840 to 850 to 875) and was wondering if anyone could shed some light on whats happening.

[tyson-chris]

With Dual Channel enabled, your CPU won't necessarily perform any "better" than at 2.8ghz. IE. Your Sandra CPU Bench won't go up. But your memory bandwidth will skyrocket, something in the ballpark of 40-70%. 875/865 P4 systems REALLY benefit from dual channel.

As such, general performance, particularly memory-intensive programs, will improve quite a bit. You should definitely get the second stick as soon as possible. P4 systems respond to dual channel much better than AMD systems, given P4's need it (800mhz fsb = 6.4gb/s bandwidth). AMD's don't (400mhz fsb = 3.2gb/s bandwidth).

[ntloser]

Thanks for the reply. I am glad to know the extra stick will help alot. Any ideas on the low benchmark or less responsive when OC-ed issue?