4 RAM sticks will make my system slowere?

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 05:37 PM

I was talking with a friend of mine today, about my future build-my-self gaming PC.

I said I was gonna buy 4GB (4x1024)Crucial Ballistix Dual Channel 2048MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3116812&Sku=C19-6012 (Your welcome to come with better RAM alternatives, as long as theyr found on that side

)

He then told me that having 4 sticks would cause my system to run slowere, can anyone in here confirm or disconfirm that statement?

Thanks in advance!

- Philip

newtekie1 · Oct 25, 2007, 05:39 PM

It depends on the rest of your system, but yes sometimes having 4 sticks can cause the timings to be slower, and can hurt performance of the system vs. using 2 sticks.

freeboy · Oct 25, 2007, 05:42 PM

It does depend on the application, for instance are you doing Cad or vid rendering? Gaming Vista..?
For a new vista system used for gaming, that may be a tossup, get a testing freeware and see by adding two chips and doing side by side tests.. For xp gaming rigs commen thought and experince is two gigs are enough and four slows down performance. Is it all about software? No, but the apps that need big memory definately do recieve a benifit to their speed using more ram, rendering, cad etc.

What operating sys and application?

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 05:42 PM

Im gonna have:

Intel Duo E6850 3 GHZ
XFX 8800 GTX
Samsung Spinpoint T166

And Im gonna play on Vista
------------------------------------

Will it go slower then?

freeboy · Oct 25, 2007, 05:45 PM

what are you using it for? games? vista needs alot of memory, so it would be an easy check, first test at 2 giog and then at four.

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 06:04 PM

Games, games and yet more games

freeboy · Oct 25, 2007, 06:20 PM

tests.. try ati tool, on my sys runnig this gives me a real time frames per second in the corner.. it may work with your video card.. free from this sight too!/ test at two and at four.. or simply use a benchmarking program, also free...

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 06:21 PM

Okay¨, thanks for reply

freeboy · Oct 25, 2007, 06:25 PM

no problem, feel free to ask any ? these really are the best boards!

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 06:26 PM

I also forgot to add the mainboard il be uptaining:

Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6, X38, Socket-775, ATX, Silent Pipe, DDR2, 2xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16

AsRock · Oct 25, 2007, 06:35 PM

You wont get to use 4GIG if your using a 32bit OS. Not sure if you considered it or not with 4GIG you be better of with 64bit OS.

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 06:37 PM

So if I want 4GB of RAM, I need to get a 64bit Vista?

Darknova · Oct 25, 2007, 06:37 PM

It may do, but not enough to make a noticeable difference (except in benchmarks) over the increased memory available.

Just do it.

freeboy · Oct 25, 2007, 06:38 PM

even in vista? glad you said that , Ithought you could always use 4 gig in 32 or 64 bit vista, only over 4 to 8 in vista 64 bit.. very interesting thanks

Darknova · Oct 25, 2007, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeboy

even in vista? glad you said that , Ithought you could always use 4 gig in 32 or 64 bit vista, only over 4 to 8 in vista 64 bit.. very interesting thanks

In a 32-bit OS the maximum register size if 4Gb, but all your add-on cards (Graphics included) take up space in that register. So you only get ACCESS to about 3.25-3.5Gb of your RAM.

In 64-bit you get access to all of it, and a theoretical maximum of 128Gb

Fallap · Oct 25, 2007, 06:41 PM

Okay, il buy 4GB and try my way forward (as we say in Denmark lol )

Im first gonna buy it after my birthday (29 november) But im the very impatient type

EviloneX · Oct 26, 2007, 12:17 AM

Well it can have a negative effect on your command rate . Usually you use 1T with 2 sticks of ram and 2T with 4 sticks, i generally found the bandwidth difference to be around 800MB\s+ between 1T and 2T command rates. Use Progs like Everest to see if theres really much of a difference.

Darknova · Oct 26, 2007, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EviloneX

Well it can have a negative effect on your command rate . Usually you use 1T with 2 sticks of ram and 2T with 4 sticks, i generally found the bandwidth difference to be around 800MB\s+ between 1T and 2T command rates. Use Progs like Everest to see if theres really much of a difference.

The command rate doesn't have that much of an effect on DDR2. If you mean DDR then yes I would agree with you.

VulkanBros · Oct 26, 2007, 06:52 AM

.....hmmm I have a ASUS CROSSHAIR ROG mobo with 4 x 1 GB af mem
(Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Performance TwinX Matched 2 GB ( 2 x 1024 MB ) DDR II − 800 MHz / PC2−6400C4 − CL4 − 2.1 V) ( se my system specs. )

The BIOS tells me I have 4096 MB memory - but Windows ( Vista Ultimate 32 bit DK )
is only reporting 3,5 GB memory....anyone knows why ??

And yes...I did a test like freeboy suggested....the system is a slight faster with only 2 GIG...
I dont understand that...is there a reasonable explanation for that behavior ???

Darknova · Oct 26, 2007, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VulkanBros

.....hmmm I have a ASUS CROSSHAIR ROG mobo with 4 x 1 GB af mem
(Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Performance TwinX Matched 2 GB ( 2 x 1024 MB ) DDR II − 800 MHz / PC2−6400C4 − CL4 − 2.1 V) ( se my system specs. )

The BIOS tells me I have 4096 MB memory - but Windows ( Vista Ultimate 32 bit DK )
is only reporting 3,5 GB memory....anyone knows why ??

And yes...I did a test like freeboy suggested....the system is a slight faster with only 2 GIG...
I dont understand that...is there a reasonable explanation for that behavior ???

That's been explained earlier in the thread mate

VulkanBros · Oct 26, 2007, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darknova

That's been explained earlier in the thread mate

okay...fair enough....

BECAUSE IE SUCKS

Oct 25, 2007, 05:37 PM	#1
Fallap Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denmark, Scandinavia Posts: 41 (0.02/day) Thanks: 31 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	4 RAM sticks will make my system slowere? I was talking with a friend of mine today, about my future build-my-self gaming PC. I said I was gonna buy 4GB (4x1024)Crucial Ballistix Dual Channel 2048MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3116812&Sku=C19-6012 (Your welcome to come with better RAM alternatives, as long as theyr found on that side ) He then told me that having 4 sticks would cause my system to run slowere, can anyone in here confirm or disconfirm that statement? Thanks in advance! - Philip Last edited by Fallap; Oct 31, 2007 at 02:59 PM.

Oct 25, 2007, 05:39 PM	#2
newtekie1 Semi-Retired Folder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 17,751 (6.48/day) Thanks: 780 Thanked 5,115 Times in 3,706 Posts System Specs	It depends on the rest of your system, but yes sometimes having 4 sticks can cause the timings to be slower, and can hurt performance of the system vs. using 2 sticks. __________________ Rig1: System Specs. Rig2: A8-5600K@4.4GHz / AsRock FM2A75 Pro4 / 8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 / HD7560D / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB WD Green + 3x3TB WD RED in RAID5 Rig3: Athlon X2 4200+ / M4A79 Deluxe / 4GB G.Skill Pi DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 / GT430 / Sony DVD-Burner / 500GB WD Rig4: Phenom II x6 1605T @ 3.6GHz / Asus M5A99X Evo / 8GB PNY DDR3-1600 9-9-9 / GTX470 & GTX470 / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB Seagate

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Oct 25, 2007, 05:42 PM	#3
freeboy Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 576 (0.25/day) Thanks: 38 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	It does depend on the application, for instance are you doing Cad or vid rendering? Gaming Vista..? For a new vista system used for gaming, that may be a tossup, get a testing freeware and see by adding two chips and doing side by side tests.. For xp gaming rigs commen thought and experince is two gigs are enough and four slows down performance. Is it all about software? No, but the apps that need big memory definately do recieve a benifit to their speed using more ram, rendering, cad etc. What operating sys and application?

Oct 25, 2007, 05:45 PM	#5
freeboy Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 576 (0.25/day) Thanks: 38 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	what are you using it for? games? vista needs alot of memory, so it would be an easy check, first test at 2 giog and then at four.

Oct 25, 2007, 06:04 PM	#6
Fallap Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denmark, Scandinavia Posts: 41 (0.02/day) Thanks: 31 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Games, games and yet more games

Oct 25, 2007, 06:20 PM	#7
freeboy Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 576 (0.25/day) Thanks: 38 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	tests.. try ati tool, on my sys runnig this gives me a real time frames per second in the corner.. it may work with your video card.. free from this sight too!/ test at two and at four.. or simply use a benchmarking program, also free...

Oct 25, 2007, 06:21 PM	#8
Fallap Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denmark, Scandinavia Posts: 41 (0.02/day) Thanks: 31 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Okay¨, thanks for reply

Oct 25, 2007, 06:25 PM	#9
freeboy Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 576 (0.25/day) Thanks: 38 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	no problem, feel free to ask any ? these really are the best boards!

Oct 25, 2007, 06:26 PM	#10
Fallap Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denmark, Scandinavia Posts: 41 (0.02/day) Thanks: 31 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	I also forgot to add the mainboard il be uptaining: Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6, X38, Socket-775, ATX, Silent Pipe, DDR2, 2xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16

Oct 25, 2007, 06:35 PM	#11
AsRock TPU addict Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: US\ Uk Born Posts: 8,794 (4.07/day) Thanks: 1,675 Thanked 1,348 Times in 1,170 Posts System Specs	You wont get to use 4GIG if your using a 32bit OS. Not sure if you considered it or not with 4GIG you be better of with 64bit OS.

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Oct 25, 2007, 06:37 PM	#12
Fallap Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denmark, Scandinavia Posts: 41 (0.02/day) Thanks: 31 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	So if I want 4GB of RAM, I need to get a 64bit Vista?

Oct 25, 2007, 06:37 PM	#13
Darknova Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Manchester, United Kingdom Posts: 4,342 (1.82/day) Thanks: 113 Thanked 551 Times in 514 Posts System Specs	It may do, but not enough to make a noticeable difference (except in benchmarks) over the increased memory available. Just do it.

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Oct 25, 2007, 06:38 PM	#14
freeboy Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 576 (0.25/day) Thanks: 38 Thanked 11 Times in 11 Posts System Specs	even in vista? glad you said that , Ithought you could always use 4 gig in 32 or 64 bit vista, only over 4 to 8 in vista 64 bit.. very interesting thanks

Oct 25, 2007, 06:41 PM	#16
Fallap Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Denmark, Scandinavia Posts: 41 (0.02/day) Thanks: 31 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Okay, il buy 4GB and try my way forward (as we say in Denmark lol ) Im first gonna buy it after my birthday (29 november) But im the very impatient type

Oct 26, 2007, 12:17 AM	#17
EviloneX Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Guaynabo PR Posts: 1 (0.00/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts System Specs	Well it can have a negative effect on your command rate . Usually you use 1T with 2 sticks of ram and 2T with 4 sticks, i generally found the bandwidth difference to be around 800MB\s+ between 1T and 2T command rates. Use Progs like Everest to see if theres really much of a difference. __________________ "There are far too manypeople and few human beings in this world" - Masami Obari "Bah weep granah weep ninni bong" - Kup

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Oct 26, 2007, 06:52 AM	#19
VulkanBros Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: At the Pico Mundo grille Posts: 1,088 (0.36/day) Thanks: 249 Thanked 206 Times in 147 Posts System Specs	.....hmmm I have a ASUS CROSSHAIR ROG mobo with 4 x 1 GB af mem (Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Performance TwinX Matched 2 GB ( 2 x 1024 MB ) DDR II − 800 MHz / PC2−6400C4 − CL4 − 2.1 V) ( se my system specs. ) The BIOS tells me I have 4096 MB memory - but Windows ( Vista Ultimate 32 bit DK ) is only reporting 3,5 GB memory....anyone knows why ?? And yes...I did a test like freeboy suggested....the system is a slight faster with only 2 GIG... I dont understand that...is there a reasonable explanation for that behavior ??? Last edited by VulkanBros; Oct 26, 2007 at 07:04 AM.

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