# RAM - One Stick, One Pair, or Two Pairs?



## double b26

hey everyone.  as the title reads, which is the best to have in a computer with 4 ram slots?  

this specific pc's motherboard has 4 ram slots, and a max capacity of 4gb.  after doing some research, i have found no real answer to this question.  

so just to boil it down; which configuration would work best in this pc?

_1. single, 4gb ram stick *(1x4gb)*

2. one matched pair, 2gb sticks *(2x2gb)*

3. two matched pairs, 1gb sticks *(4x1gb)*_


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## 1337dingo

id say 2x2gb no real reason why, just personal choice


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## johnb35

If the maximum amount of ram the motherboard will hold is 4gb then you will be limited to having 4 sticks of 1gb installed.  You won't be able to install sticks bigger then 1gb.


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## linkin

2x2GB will leave you with dual channel (good), less stress on the northbridge/imc (good) and 2 empty slots (doesn't matter in your case)


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## double b26

FYI, its a 2007-ish Dell Inspiron 531s (slim tower desktop) with mobo #0RY206 in it...

anyway, i was also leaning toward the 2x2gb configuration.  i've always read that ram works best in matched pairs, but i didnt know if that meant that its better to have a single pair, or two smaller pairs.  or if there's any difference between the options.

but then johnb35 had to come along and ruin that for me!  he says that each slot has a 1gb max capacity, which limits me to the 4x1gb config.  

not that i dont trust him, but just for the hell of it, im going to pull 2x2gb from one of my own towers, put it in this dell rig, and see what happens.  

i'll report back with the results in a little while...


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## double b26

well, that idea was short lived.  my old tower has ddr, this dell uses ddr2.  mine wouldnt fit the slots in the dell, so no info was gained.

i guess i'll just go with the 4x1gb, since we know that it'll work, and the pairs will be matched, and will even be matched pair-to-pair.  cant get much better than that, i dont think.  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*THE OPTIONS*

A. 4x1gb g-skill ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231136

B. 4x1gb kingston hyperX ram... same price, but looks slightly faster than g-skill: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134596

C. OR i can go cheap and get some value ram for around $15-20 a stick (x4): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&IsNodeId=1&name=1GB&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20

keep in mind, its just an older rig that they're wanting to be able to easily browse the web, watch hd video, and occasionally burn stuff or do school work.


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## Okedokey

johnb35 said:


> If the maximum amount of ram the motherboard will hold is 4gb then you will be limited to having 4 sticks of 1gb installed.  You won't be able to install sticks bigger then 1gb.



Are you saying that 2 x 2GB sticks wont work on a max 4GB board?


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## double b26

double b26 said:


> *THE OPTIONS*
> 
> A. 4x1gb g-skill ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231136
> 
> B. 4x1gb kingston hyperX ram... same price, but looks slightly faster than g-skill: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134596
> 
> C. OR i can go cheap and get some value ram for around $15-20 a stick (x4): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&IsNodeId=1&name=1GB&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20
> 
> keep in mind, its just an older rig that they're wanting to be able to easily browse the web, watch hd video, and occasionally burn stuff or do school work.



okay, i guess i can strike the kingston hyperX from the list.  from what i can find on this motherboard, it maxes out at pc2-6400.  the hyperX is rated at pc2-8500, which wont amount to any more than the lower level of the g-skill or some of the value ram.  

the owner says that they are planning on getting a laptop soon, and giving this one to their son to keep in his room.  it already plays video pretty well with just 512MB ram and the integrated NVidia chipset.  i think it will work fine for them when it has the full 4GB ram.

that being said, i think the owner will be more than pleased with the results of either the g-skill or the value ram.  that being said, i think i'll save them $20 on the ram, and use that to buy the cd/dvd burner.  they'll be just as happy with the cheaper ram in the end, and it'll save them $20 on what is essentially a budget build.

Thanks for the input!


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## double b26

double b26 said:


> okay, i guess i can strike the kingston hyperX from the list.  from what i can find on this motherboard, it maxes out at pc2-6400.  the hyperX is rated at pc2-8500, which wont amount to any more than the lower level of the g-skill or some of the value ram.
> 
> the owner says that they are planning on getting a laptop soon, and giving this one to their son to keep in his room.  it already plays video pretty well with just 512MB ram and the integrated NVidia chipset.  i think it will work fine for them when it has the full 4GB ram.
> 
> that being said, i think the owner will be more than pleased with the results of either the g-skill or the value ram.  that being said, i think i'll save them $20 on the ram, and use that to buy the cd/dvd burner.  they'll be just as happy with the cheaper ram in the end, and it'll save them $20 on what is essentially a budget build.
> 
> Thanks for the input!



it looks like this is what i'm gonna get...

(4x) Rendition by Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model RM12864AA800

(1x) ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM

Total w/ Shipping = $82.94


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## StrangleHold

If it has a 4gb limit and 4 slots. Its really a 50/50 thing if the board will read a 2gb stick. Some boards will, some will not. 

Its not really a memory controller issue. Depends on the way they set the bios up to read memory. 

I've had some that would read a 2gb. stick, boot up and run fine. Some that would boot but read it as a 1gb stick. Some that would not boot at all.

So your safest bet is to use 1gb. sticks.


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## double b26

double b26 said:


> it looks like this is what i'm gonna get...
> 
> (4x) Rendition by Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model RM12864AA800
> 
> (1x) ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
> 
> Total w/ Shipping = $82.94



got it, and it all worked.  big performance boost.


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## S.T.A.R.S.

1x4 GB is great and trust me you will not really feel any change if you put 2x2 GB instead of 4x1 GB.It's the same and in some cases even better.Why?Well...if some of your RAM chip(s) go bad after some time,at least you will lose just 1 GB of RAM instead 2 if you use 2x2 or even 4 if you use 4x1 lol.Besides...it's cheaper to get 1 GB RAM stick than the one which has 2 or even 4 lol.


Cheers!




UAC - User Access Commands


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## double b26

S.T.A.R.S. said:


> 1x4 GB is great and trust me you will not really feel any change if you put 2x2 GB instead of 4x1 GB.It's the same and in some cases even better.Why?Well...if some of your RAM chip(s) go bad after some time,at least you will lose just 1 GB of RAM instead 2 if you use 2x2 or even 4 if you use 4x1 lol.Besides...it's cheaper to get 1 GB RAM stick than the one which has 2 or even 4 lol.
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UAC - User Access Commands



right... redundancy is always a plus in my book.  so is cheap.  lol

from my personal experiences, average users dont really notice the benefits of a matched pair anyway.  if someone brings me a stock box w/ 512 or 1gb of ram, and im going to double or quadruple the amount, there will be a huge performance bump even if the ram sticks dont match.  i'm not saying that there arent benefits, just that most novice users couldnt tell the difference between matched and non-matched ram. 

really, my real question was which would be the best; a single, a pair, or two pairs.  i always hear/read that you want to use matched pairs of ram, but never anything about whether its best to have one pair, or two, if possible.  the language on the subject is kind-of vague, and im not sure anyone here has really explained this fully, in a general sense, as of yet.  

but anyway, the box has been returned to the user about a month ago... or at least a few weeks ago now.  i havent heard any bitching from them, so i take it they're pleased!


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## Okedokey

I think the key benefit of matched pairs shows up when you overclock, otherwise, i am not sure anyone in the basic market will notice or care.


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