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fcairforce
10-31-04, 01:25 PM
I just got a 1gig kit of corsair memory. I have an Asus P4P800 Deluxe mobo and a p4 2.6ghz processor(if that matters). I need to know if i would get better performance out of 1.25 gigs in single channel mode or 1 gig in dual channel mode. what do you think? i like big games like generals and fs9 and doom3.
sunrunner20
10-31-04, 01:27 PM
From my understanding, 2 sticks of 512 in dual channel will out preform 1.25GB of ram in single channel mode.
koss20100
10-31-04, 01:37 PM
ya ill have to agree with sunrunner .. i use to run 1 gig of ram and even when i was playin doom 3 it never used it all up !
sunrunner20
10-31-04, 01:47 PM
Im running 2x256 corsair XMS DDR400 in dual channel. I usually have around half that free, And my system flies. Though i'll probally add in another gig, to end up w/ 1.5 in dual, but if I can't dual channel like that ill just have 1GB and store/sell those 256 sticks.
fcairforce
10-31-04, 03:33 PM
also, I had a question about CPU-Z if anyone has heard of it....
someone recommended it to me for detecting if my ram was in dual or single channel mode. On the ram tab, what does "Performance Mode " mean? Mine is NOT grayed out, but it says disabled...

what is this setting for my ram and how (if its in my best intrest) do i "enable" it?
stan03
10-31-04, 04:15 PM
if you overclock your computer performance mode is disabled i believe...
sunrunner20
10-31-04, 04:32 PM
I'd RTFM and check the Dual Channel Mode status in the bios.
stan03
10-31-04, 05:25 PM
I'd RTFM and check the Dual Channel Mode status in the bios.

i don't think performance mode is the same thing as dual channel...
sunrunner20
10-31-04, 05:35 PM
I competely agree with you stan03, I was refering too This:
someone recommended it to me for detecting if my ram was in dual or single channel mode.
when I said:
I'd RTFM and check the Dual Channel Mode status in the bios.
stan03
10-31-04, 08:46 PM
gotcha, my bad.

fcairforce did you figure it out yet?
sunrunner20
10-31-04, 09:12 PM
No problem, It was partially my fault for not being precise enough in my wording.
fcairforce
11-01-04, 11:56 AM
yeah, thanks, i got it. The performance mode could be disabled becuase I am overclocking the ram. It says its running in dual channel mode.

what do you mean by RTFM?
sunrunner20
11-01-04, 05:36 PM
Normally RTFM meas Read the F****** manual. But I mean Read the Freaking manual, unless its like the first page in it.
Prot
11-01-04, 09:44 PM
Go dual channel, because from what I can understand a P4 makes better use of dual channel that amd does. If you had an amd processor, the decision wouldn't be as clear, because you can generally get a better overclock in single channel compared to dual channel. The performance gain realized by the overclock sometimes is higher than the performance gain by running dual channel at a slower frequency with amd based systems.
FyreDaug
11-01-04, 10:20 PM
Consider this. You can have your ram as 1.25 gigs on single channel with 400mhz bus speed or 1 gig dual channel 800mhz bus speed. Thats the comparison. If you use alot of program and NEED the extra 256 megs, then use that. But for performance I (aswell as everyone else here it seems) recommends dual channel
bobykcul
11-01-04, 10:35 PM
NO personal attacks. -- JigPu
sunrunner20
11-02-04, 06:22 AM
Wow! *just saw his first person get banned* (reprase, thats the first person Ive seen get banned)
vsalt2
11-02-04, 07:06 AM
Wow! *just saw his first person get banned* (reprase, thats the first person Ive seen get banned)
Same here. But on the subject of this post, what exactly does dual channel ram enable? Just 2 pipes to the ram instead of 1, right? It doesn't change the bus speed? If this is correct, I don't like how companies tell these white lies by doubling the bus speed of the ram, adding it up, and selling it as if that's the actual speed. Gr.
Prot
11-02-04, 10:31 AM
what exactly does dual channel ram enable? Just 2 pipes to the ram instead of 1, right? It doesn't change the bus speed?

My understanding is that you can read and write to memory with half of the information on the first channel and half on the second channel. I think it is kind of like a two lane road compared to a four lane.
vsalt2
11-02-04, 10:47 AM
So kinda like Raid 0 for ram, I like it :)
sunrunner20
11-02-04, 04:08 PM
hmmm, Well Put vsalt2. I think thats the best compairson you can have.