2 GB of Memory?

[bruins004]

Hey all,
I have a quick question.
I currently have an MSI motherboard K8N Neo-f as seen in my signature.
I have 1 GB of RAM installed (2 512MB sticks).
I want to add another 2 sticks of RAM to give me a total of 2 GB since some new games need it to perform well at high resolutions.
I have read a lot that 4 sticks of RAM does not work very well in many motherboards.
So is this a good idea or am I going to have to get 2 1GB sticks (which is something I really dont want to do).
Thanks for the help
:nutkick:

[intel igent]

using 4 sticks will lower your oc and cause you to run 2t ->a no-no for AMD.

so it is better to get 2 1gb sticks instead of 4 512mb.

of course as always this is only my opinion:cool:

[Poisonsnak]

I think the '4 sticks requires 2T' is CPU dependent and the venice and newer Athlon64s do not have this problem.

Anyway on my 4400+ and A8N-SLI Deluxe I can use 4 sticks of 512MB at 1T and 200MHz (DDR400) without issue.

edit: maybe I should have read your sig, the newcastle probably does suffer this limitation

[Aevum]

actually, theres some science to this,
memory isnt devided in to modules, its devided in to banks, each memory bank is one side of a memory module, Single sided memory modules occupy one bank, double sided memory modules occupay 2 banks,

the memory controler on a athlon64 from newcastle to winchester could handle 4 banks at DDR400 and 8 banks at DDR333, socket 939 that is, socket 754 could handle 4 banks at DDR400 and 6 at DDR333,

now, in the newer Revision E Athlon64 they upgraded the memory controler with some stuff, dupport for DDR466 and such, but the main thing was the ability to handle 8 banks at DDR400, but with the penalty of running at T2 insted of T1,

now, you have a slight dilema, theres no decent timming single sided memory when it comes to 512mb or 1gb modules (i think theres no single sided 1gb modules at all), something about high density memory chips having poor timmings (compare a samsung TCCD based module with a UCCD one)

so, if your going for 4 modules (8 banks) forget about T1 unless you´re planning to put 4 256mb SS modules, which beats the point anyways, and make sure you have a E4 or E6 revision Athlon64, winchester, sandiego, toledo or manchester,

btw, there have been reports that some Athlon64 939 boards dont support this 8 bank at ddr400, make sure your bios is up to date, anyways, the only board which was crummy enough to have this problem was the ECS KN1, but in general its been more CPU dependent since AMD decided to include the memory controler on chip insted of the chipset on board

[bruins004]

Thanks for the info.
Never knew memory was divided into banks.
Guess I will go with the 2 1gb sticks which will make it easier

[Silverstone]

I think the '4 sticks requires 2T' is CPU dependent and the venice and newer Athlon64s do not have this problem.

Anyway on my 4400+ and A8N-SLI Deluxe I can use 4 sticks of 512MB at 1T and 200MHz (DDR400) without issue.

edit: maybe I should have read your sig, the newcastle probably does suffer this limitation

Actually ONLY THE ATI/DFI CROSSFIRE new mobo that just came out IS THE ONLY amd64 board that can run 1T command Rate, dual channel & ACTUAL 1.5 cas latency with all 4 dimms occupied!

Its NOT cpu dependent, its how the mobo is created to work with an existing AMD64 cpu.

[1337cshacker]

well, 2gig is completly unnessesary right now. 1gig performs absolutly fine for all games, even for game engines that arent released yet (ue3, x-ray, eldar scroll 5, etc). speed of the ram matters more, at least PC3200 for newer games. if you do want to waste money and get 2gig right now, two 1gig sticks are the way to go. well, one bright side is you dont need to buy more in the future. its not a bad idea, if you have the money.

Anyway on my 4400+ and A8N-SLI Deluxe I can use 4 sticks of 512MB at 1T and 200MHz (DDR400) without issue.
on that issue, if you a gamer its also a waste of money to get a dual core, single cores like the FX55, FX57, outbenched the 4400, 4800, and 4000+ in single threaded gaming (3800+ single coure outbenched the 3800 dual core in single threaded gaming). when engines start using more threads, then get a dual core.