one memory stick or two?

[joop]

I am buying a new PC with 1Gb RAM, just wondering if I should make it a 1Gb chip or 2 x 512Mb? Is there a difference in performance? This will be the cheapest RAM I can find, if it makes a difference.

Any advice much appreciated.

[Gregg777]

You definitely want to go with the single stick so you can add more in the future if needed.

I am currently removing two 256mb sticks in my laptop because I need to bump it to a gig. It would be nice if I had a single 512 and only had to buy another one /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Instead I have to trash the two I have and buy two sticks...

[RPMick]

Your motherboard is setup for dual channels. It will perform best with 2 identical sticks of memory. You can use 1 gig stick, but 2 512's may be cheaper depending on where you buy it.

If your machine can handle 2G's of RAM go with one, but be sure to get another down the road. If your machine's max is 1G then 2 512's is the way to go.

-Ryan

[joop]

Hmmm, the motherboard supports Dual Channel DDR400 memory, it also has 4 slots, so I should go for the 2 x 512mb?

[krimson]

[ QUOTE ]
Hmmm, the motherboard supports Dual Channel DDR400 memory, it also has 4 slots, so I should go for the 2 x 512mb?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, go with 2x512. This will essentially allow your ram to operate twice as fast since you are writing twice as much data in one operation.