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Do I need 1gb or will 512mb do?

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assemblage

Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
Location
Augusta, GA
I've had 1gb in the past, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference over 512mb unless I was playing a game like Star Wars Galaxies or using some newsgroup program with poor memory management.

Is there much improvement with 1gb vs. 512mb?

On the AMD Socket 939 systems how much of performance is sacrificed by using only 1 512mb stick?

Thanks
 
mmm, i can feel the difference when im multi-tasking (photoshop, download client, AIM, word processor, firefox open all at once)
 
for gaming, 1 gb makes a difference for me. other then that i dont see i real difference. windows is a little quicker, but not much.
 
assemblage said:
On the AMD Socket 939 systems how much of performance is sacrificed by using only 1 512mb stick?


Honestly, you will lose quite a bit that way. 939 pltfrm is able to communicate with two sticks of ram at the same time. I wouldn't waste dual channel capabilty! You can run 2 x 256, and that would be fine.

IMO, a gig is very usable and will make a noticable difference overall.
 
ya what rob 119 said was what i was gonna say, why would you want to get 939 pin when ur gonna get 1 stick? thats just a waste and ur will make 754 users mad,lol, ya get (2) 256 if you want to get 512 total, you cannot notice a huge differance on like windows when you have 1 gig of memory from 512 but when it comes to like games lke star wars galaxies that soon i will start playing (already got the game just need to wait 3 weeks till my new computer) if you have 1 gig thats a big differance it will run smoother and faster i believe, all games that require huge ram you willl notice a huge differance in like, COH it takes like 700 mb of ram thats alot ( my friend has 1 gig) like the more memory you got the more the game will use to make it perform better well usually 1 gig is enought more than that i heard actually slows it down if your using it for gaming
 
Umm No. 1GB is becoming how 512 is now. For gamming, 512 is the min anf 1GB is becomming more and more as the recomended. Get 1 stick of 512 Now if you can not get two sticks. On a 939 system DC vs SC makes no difference mabey 5% overall system preformace. Also system preformace and stabilty are not comprmized when running two sticks or 1GB worth. Do your research first guys.
 
I was considering 512mb because that's all I can really afford right now. Getting one stick gives me a better option to upgrade to 1 gb later if I need to. But if I got 2x256mb now I think I would take a larger performance hit by adding 2 more 256mb sticks. I had heard in the past that Dual Channel vs. Single Channel isn't that much of a hit, but I didn't know if the new Winchester cores, Nvidia chipsets, and OC'ing with TCCD ram had widened the performance gap.
 
You are correct, the difference is not noticable at all unless your only concern is memory benches. 5-7% on average is the difference in real world app's at the same clock speed and memory speed.

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/amd-2400/fullarticle.html

939 currently has no real advantage(s) over 754, generaly people talk about upgrade path as the biggest reason to buy 939, myself I don't believe in the upgrade path. It seems like ever time Im ready to upgrade (once a year or so) a new feature or item has been added to the wish list and the upgrade path has turned into vapor and wasted money. Anyone saying 939 is a good upgrade right now has not looked at the AMD processor timeline...DDR2 is coming so the current 939 boards will be collecting dust soon...

http://www.overclockers.com/tips00719/
 
Yea, I agree. If you can, wait for ddr2 to come out, because thats where the true performance gain is going to be, instead of dual channel.. which ddr2 will have anyways, plus the higher clock speeds. IMO, contrary to what everyone says right now, I think socket 939 is a waste unless you have money to burn. Sockt 754 is doing me much good right now, and I dont have dual channel ram. Id say just get 512mb right now and overclock it if you can. Wait to upgrade to DDR2 rather than getting a dual channel gig now.
 
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