# Is two sticks of memory faster than one stick?



## Drastik

If i had two 1gb sticks, instead of one 2gb stick, would the 2 sticks be faster since they work together?


----------



## Cromewell

Drastik said:


> If i had two 1gb sticks, instead of one 2gb stick, would the 2 sticks be faster since they work together?


It depends on the RAM but if both are the same except for the size then 2 sticks will have more bandwidth availalbe because they should be run in dual channel.


> No no.. 2 sticks Ram are useful incase if your one of the peace get corrupted and still your PC will work but in a single peace ram if it gets corrupted then you have to wait until you place the next one.


Your PC would only still work if you removed the bad stick.


----------



## Damascus

If your memory supports dual-channel memory, then YES two sticks are faster than one. Dual channel memory allows the CPU to access the memory on two different channels, enhancing the bandwidth, giving you more speed. You can even run 2 dual channel sticks, which means 4 sticks total, but they all need to be identical, and the new Phenoms' quad-cores can theoretically access each stick individually. Remember, dual channel memory means that both sticks (or all four) have to be identical. This is why they're sold in matched pairs. 
If you're motherboard doesn't support dual channel or the new triple channel memory architecture, then it doesn't matter what you do, 1 stick, 3, or 4, you won't see a difference.

EDIT: Cromewell beat me to it


----------



## Drastik

Damascus said:


> If your memory supports dual-channel memory, then YES two sticks are faster than one. Dual channel memory allows the CPU to access the memory on two different channels, enhancing the bandwidth, giving you more speed. You can even run 2 dual channel sticks, which means 4 sticks total, but they all need to be identical, and the new Phenoms' quad-cores can theoretically access each stick individually. Remember, dual channel memory means that both sticks (or all four) have to be identical. This is why they're sold in matched pairs.
> If you're motherboard doesn't support dual channel or the new triple channel memory architecture, then it doesn't matter what you do, 1 stick, 3, or 4, you won't see a difference.
> 
> EDIT: Cromewell beat me to it



good thing i bought 2 1gbs then, i was thinking of 2 2gbs but dont need it


----------



## funkysnair

Drastik said:


> good thing i bought 2 1gbs then, i was thinking of 2 2gbs but dont need it



you can never have too much memory!

4gigs of ram is the sweet spot i think, diont get me wrong 2gig is fine but i always go for more so its tehre if needed

especialy using vista, vista hogged 1gig of my ram idling


----------

