2 x 1gb OR 4 x 512mb - AMD X2, should I get 2 or 4 sticks?

when buying an AMD X2 Dual Core (a 4400 or 4800) should you get 2 sticks or 1,024mb each or 4 sticks of 512mb?

If I had the money, is 4 sticks of 1gb going to really improve performance?

[Link774]

It's best not to fill up all your memory slots, so it is easier to upgrade. If you don't think you'll need to upgrade (depends what you do with your system) then you'll be fine.

You probably don't need 4Gb, unless you're doing things that cause all your physical memory to be used. Most people don't need that much.

-Link

while I have to agree with the post above, I have the feelign that you can never have too much ram.

Back to subject, I also agree that your better getting 2x1gig ram so you can upgrade later if needed.


EDIT: on a second thought, if there is a difference in price then you might go with that but if its a difference of say 10-20 your better off with the 2 chips instead of 4

[NoTalent]

If price is no object, go for the two sticks of 1Gb memory. If you get 4 sticks, the opteron has to run at 2T timing which is slower (~5% hit)

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
You probably don't need 4Gb yet, unless you're doing things that cause all your physical memory to be used. Most people don't need that much.

[/ QUOTE ]

If there's one thing you can count on, it's that the next generation of OS's and software will require more memory.

[random old fart remeniscing about the bad old days] I remember upgrading my 386 from 4 megabytes of memory to 8 megabytes. That was about 11 years ago. Probably cost more than upgrading from 1 gig to 2 does now.[/random old fart remeniscing about the bad old days]

[Zarathustra888]

i was about to make a seperate post about memory but I'll put it all here.

I've 512 ddr ram on and about a 2.2ghz AMD athlon processor, yet when I play 6 tables, run pokertracker, poker ace and play music the whole thing goes into meltdown.

How much more memory should I bet getting to cure this?

[Zarathustra888]

Just checked the motherboard info, I've 2 slots available for the memory, one is used at the moment and the other supports DDR 400, 333 and 266.

another 512mb will cost me 40 quid,
another 1gb will cost me about 80 quid

[DQPaulie]

Just one thing I would like to mention, some motherboards run into compatibility problems with all four memory slots filled. They tend to get more picky about the type, timings, and quality with the four slots filled. So I would go with the 2 Gb sticks myself.
In respons to the 512 Mb question, if your Athlon is a 64 and dual channel, you should add one 512 to keep it running in dual channel. If you have an older Athlon XP chip, I would add two sticks of 512 Mb, for a total of 1.5 Gb. I noticed a nice improvement going from 512 to 1 Gb on my Athlon 64.

I read somewhere else that getting 2 sticks is better than 4 for the AMD processors...not sure if this was about the X2 Dual-Cores...

1 question: is it worth the extra $500. to go from 2 x 1,024mb = 2 Gig total TO
4 x 1,024mb = 4 Gig Total?

I'm building a high-end gaming PC on Velocity Micro and am looking at the choices they offer you...it's about $500. more to get 4Gig (4 x 1,024 meg. sticks).
I'd like to save
the money if you guys think it's not worth it and 2 x 1 Gig. sticks will do fine...

NOTE: I NEED a computer that can 10 table and have 20 other things going on at the same time with no lag. or pauses...