2 or 4 sticks - speed effect

Hi,

I'm new to Overclocking.

I'm purchasing some Corsair 3200 XL in twin 512 format ie. 2 x 512mb sticks.

I use my pc to game and thus speed is important.

I also use Photoshop and have found in the past that 1GB wasn't enough for some of my projects.

Here is what I need to know:

If I get Venice or San Diego cored Athlon with the new memory controller, can I fit 4 sticks (2 pairs of matched twins) without any kind of performance hit or will there be some slow down from having all 4 slots filled either from access speed, latency or bus speed.

I know that theroetically bus speed should no longer be problem as the new cores support Dual Channel PC3200, but I wondered if there was any other factor to consider that might adversly affect performance using 4 sticks.

Al.

I don't think anyone yet knows the answer to your question just yet. The Venice will have an improved memory controller, but will there be any speed penalty for 4x512 is still up in the air. I have heard yay and nay. It will run them at 400mhz, but what's not certain is will it run at 1t. That may differ from board to board. If 2 gigs of ram is what you will need then you will have to take your chances or wait till all the reviews are in. Good luck.