Dual Channel Confusion

[AndMir92]

Hey Everybody :). I am just a little confused about some aspects of dual channeling. Whenever I see someone write about it, they always compare 1 stick of, lets say, 1 GB of RAM vs. 2x1GB of RAM @ dual channel. But isn't it obvious that 2GB will always be better then 1GB (if everything else is the same, other than size and dual channel). Why aren't there any comparisons that have 1 GB of ram vs. 2x512mb of ram. That way, won't you get to see the direct effects of dual channel? Or am I missing something?... Also, what is the difference between sticks in dual channel (2x512) vs. non dual channel sticks (but still 2x512) in performance and in how they work? And since speed increases with dual channeling, is the ram now as fast as the cpu, and if not, what is the difference(answered)?

Finally, if any of you know of a good source that describes dual channeling, please tell me about it!

Thanks a lot,

Andrey

[Reefa_Madness]

This linked article might help with some of those questions.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/133/1

[AndMir92]

Thanks for the link, but that only answered one of my questions. If anyone can answer the other ones, that would be truly helpful!

Thanks :),

Andrey

[Sarsbaby]

Your CPU, FSB and RAM are connected. Lots of different configs as far as frequencys and multipliers and dividers. Do a little more using of the Search option and you will get your answers.

[AndMir92]

I have done some searching and I have only found one case ( a whitepaper) where the comparisons were between 1GB single channel and 512mb dual channel. But I guess that's enough. But there is still one thing I'm not sure about, nor have I been able to find out about this (although I have to say, I am not that great at searching): what is the difference (technical and performance wise) of 2GB of ram in dual channel vs 2GB not in dual channel?

Thanks a lot,

Andrey

[Mr.Guvernment]

dual channel ram runs at 128bit, single channel 64bit = dual channel = faster throughput of data vs single channel


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture


Dual-channel technology was created to address the issue of bottlenecks. Increased processor speed and performance requires other, less prominent components to keep pace. In the case of dual channel design, the intended target is the memory controller, which regulates data flow between the CPU and system memory (RAM). The memory controller determines the types and speeds of RAM as well as the maximum size of each individual memory module and the overall memory capacity of the system. When the memory is unable to keep up with the processor, however, a bottleneck occurs, leaving the CPU with nothing to process. Under the single-channel architecture, any CPU with a bus speed greater than the memory speed would be susceptible to this bottleneck effect.




http://www.google.com/search?q=dual+channel+vs+single+channel+ram&rls=com.microsoft:*&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

[AndMir92]

Thanks Mr.Guvernment, although I already saw the wikipedia article. But what I am really interested in is: (from older post)

what is the difference (technical and performance wise) of 2GB of ram in dual channel vs 2GB not in dual channel?

Thanks,

Andrey

[cyberfish]

Dual channel = theoretically twice as fast (twice as big bandwidth, assuming same clock speed). In reality, a lot less, but still quite significant.

Do you know what RAID is? It's a similar idea (RAID 0), except it's for harddrives.

[Blazing fire]

That's true.

However, it maybe twice the bandwidth but its not perfect so take 70% of the figure. Also, you will not see twice the performance if you use 2 1GB RAM instead of 1 2GB RAM. Maybe 40% boost assuming full load and 128bit per cycle.