Dual Channel Kit Required?

To be able to use dual channel, do you have to buy a dual channel kit [i.e. 1gb(2x512mb) Dual Channel Kit], or can you just buy two identical sticks of memory? Thanks

no, dual channel kits have actually been taken, put in a system and gone "ok these work with dual channel". Basically you are paying more money for the 100% chance that it will work. But ultimatly if you buy two identical sticks of ram, same make, and made at the same date more then likely it will work.

thanks for the quick reply.

Dual Channel kits have supposedly been "tested and matched". Thus, it should be a guarantee that those two sticks would be of similar quality and pretty much handle the same speed/timings. I'd like to know exactly how much effort the manufacturers put into this. However, as price is almost the same (often cheaper for pairs where I get my hardware) I think it's best to buy a DC set of RAM.

But wether or not you'll be able to run dual channel doesn't depend on the memory, as long as it's DDR - no memory is dual channel. The controller is.

No you need a mobo that supports duel channle, and to run duel channle you need at least 2 sticks of memory it doesnt have to be duel channle ram .

You need a controller that's dual channel. They are located either on the mobo (northbridge) or the CPU-die (if it's an A64).