CPU/Mobo Is 4x1 and 2x2 the same?

S

SiriusB

Adept
My OCZ PC2-8000 2GB kit went kaput recently and it's sent for rma. For now, I have bought a cheap 512MB ram till my replacement ram comes. Consequently, my vista's making my ram and hdd swap... passionately.

Anyway, I thought that this might be a good time to upgrade my DDr2 situation. I first wanted to buy faster ram but then decided that will rather go with more ram.

So here's where I was faced with the choice of 4x1gb or 2x2gb. A preliminary search informed me that 4*1gb may have problems while the 2x2gb option's supposedly to be costler and slower.
But what I don't understand is what kinds of problems will I face if I, for example, bought 2 kits of cellshock PC2-8000? All I can think of is mismatched modules. Can the memory experts here share their wisdom on this please?
 
yeah as nuke said having 2x2GB sticks would give you the advantage of dual channel so it should be faster.. dunno how much fast though coz haven't compared any such tests head-to-head...

Dual channel gives the memory controller 2 lanes to access the RAM modules thus giving more throughput (when compared to single stick of the same speed n timings).. Think abt it as putting 2x250GB harddisks in RAID0 rather than putting a single 500GB hdd...

Also if you buy both the sticks as a kit u shouldnt have any probs of mismatched modules...

PS: I thought a single 4GB stick would be costlier than 2x2GB sticks as the latter is more widely available n has more choices.. is it the other way round?
 
Er, sorry if my words were confusing, but I was talking about two 2gb sticks Vs four 1gb sticks. Or won't both the options work in dual channel mode? Infact, the 4x1gb Geil BlackDragon kits calls itself a Quad channel kit.
 
one of the other advantages of 2 x 2GB apart from the capability of runnning in dal channel mode is that just in case one of your ram konks off u still will be able to run your system while ur ram gets RMAd
 
Niks said:
PS: I thought a single 4GB stick would be costlier than 2x2GB sticks as the latter is more widely available n has more choices.. is it the other way round?
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abhisheksahas said:
one of the other advantages of 2 x 2GB apart from the capability of runnning in dal channel mode is that just in case one of your ram konks off u still will be able to run your system while ur ram gets RMAd
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What the bull cr@p are you guys talking about??:S
He said '4x1', not '1x4'.
I think the OP is asking about using 4sticks of 1GB each vs 2 sticks of 2GB each- clearer that way?:)
Niks- please give a link to where single stick of 4GB density DDR2 RAM is being sold.:cool2:
Abhisheksahas- Even you think he asked 1stick of 4GB vs 2x2GB??
He meant 4sticks of 1GB most prolly.
If one or 2 or 3 out of 4x1GB sticks die, he can still use the remaining sticks.

BTW, if one buys a matched pair from Crucial, OCZ, Patriot, .... or anyof the top vendors, one has to send back both the sticks even if one stick dies, as they send you back a 'matched pair'.:lol:
So as per your theory, you will still need standby RAM even if only one stick dies. :rofl:
Sydras- Are you saying 4 sticks of 1GB or one stick of 4GB? :O :O
Your thrd title was fine- the post was deadly.:p
wait for someone sure about these things to post here.:cool2:
I am unsure of the present DDR2 rates and what is more vfm for a regular user, 4x1GB as it used to be sometime back or 2x2GB.
Especially where you are buying from.
If from India- 4x1GB is a no brainer.
Those who had bought 2x1GB DDR2 at really high prices had found it better to buy another pair of 2x1GB as their old RAM would have sold very cheap due to major price drops and a newer pair would have costed less too thus costing way cheaper than a 2x2GB kit.
But those who OC prefer a 2x2GB pair and OCing with 4x1GB is usually not easy and certain mobos might have issues with the same maybe.
Like older nf4 mobos if populated in all 4 dimms ran only at 2T and that was a major drop in performance.
Also using 2x2GB leaves room for more RAM and i think ppl into 3D/gfx designing who usually prefer more RAM opt for that.
Personally, if one buys RAM for keeps and doesnt change hardware very often, and buying a fresh kit- 2x2GB is the way to go as any price drops later on shouldnt affect as u r not looking at resale value.
But if one has 2x1GB already and needs 4GB, then one has to calculate the price of a new 2x1GB matching pair that will gel with the existing pair, the re4sale value of the existing pair, the price of decent 2x2GB kits, and decide based upon pros and cons.
I am confused for sure.:ashamed:
 
My appologies. I just noticed that the source of the confusion was that I mentioned 4x1gb in the title but mentioned 1x4gb in my first post. Couldn't edit the fisrt post now though. So, for the record, bikenstein is right; I am looking for opinions on 4x 1GB vs 2x 2gb.

@Bikenstein,

I completely agree with your logic for choosing 4x1gb over 2x2gb.

But the thing that confuses me is that most of the 2x2gb kits are relatively low speed and high latencied kits. Does this mean that, as you say, if I buy two high clock, low latency 2GB kits, I would face some issues(except a big hole in my pocket :) )?

I just want to understand any potential issues before I make a buying decision.

Thanks.
 
SiriusB said:
My appologies. I just noticed that the source of the confusion was that I mentioned 4x1gb in the title but mentioned 1x4gb in my first post. Couldn't edit the fisrt post now though. So, for the record, bikenstein is right; I am looking for opinions on 4x 1GB vs 2x 2gb.
@Bikenstein,
I completely agree with your logic for choosing 4x1gb over 2x2gb.
But the thing that confuses me is that most of the 2x2gb kits are relatively low speed and high latencied kits. Does this mean that, as you say, if I buy two high clock, low latency 2GB kits, I would face some issues(except a big hole in my pocket :) )?
I just want to understand any potential issues before I make a buying decision.
Thanks.
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OOpsie- SiriusB- not sydras.:ashamed:
I just stated few facts about the choices made by people with diff priorities- i don't think i recommended either over the other.:p.
I am not sure plus i haven't even studied the intel rigs and DDR2 stuff- forget using them.
Your choice will depend on the config you have, the kind of work you do with it and last but not the least- prices depending upon where you buy from.
So i am not the right person to comment.:ashamed:
I will request you to wait for some real gurus to comment here.
IIRC, Funky has gone 2x2GB and few others too.
Vivek went for 2x2Gb coz he wants to go 8GB i think or maybe he is using 8GB per Quad already.
I hope they see this thread and advise suitably.:)
 
BIKeINSTEIN said:
What the bull cr@p are you guys talking about??:S
He said '4x1', not '1x4'.
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Ummm sorry, my bad, but as Sirius said this is what led to the confusion.. :(
SiriusB said:
So here's where I was faced with the choice of 1x4gb or 2x2gb. A preliminary search informed me that 1x4gb may have problems while the 2x2gb option's supposedly to be costler and slower.
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I didn't give another glance to the title...!!!

BIKeINSTEIN said:
Niks- please give a link to where single stick of 4GB density DDR2 RAM is being sold.:cool2:
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Oops, again my fault.. :ashamed: I dint check to see first if 4GB sticks are actually sold or not.. I assumed they might be and if they are they oughta be more expensive :ashamed: Thanks for informing Bikey..
 
the 4gb kits are 2gb *2 right so check what chips the 2gb use and get 2 of them.. or have i misunderstood your question
 
x86 said:
I say go for 2*2GB solution and keep the other two slots free...
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Don't agree...its gonna be awhile till 8 GB or even 6 GB is needed for regular desktop use, and no one is going to hang on to a PC for 3-4 years, which is the time when that's likely to happen.

2 gig sticks also have significantly higher lats. 4x1 GB is good, I'm on it now...no issues.
 
Well, Cellshock isn't that cheap at all - he'd be better off with 4x1GB Ballistix PC2-8500. However, 4GB (2x2GB or 4x1GB) will prevent you from reaching similar overclocks you would normally reach with 2GB.
 
^^Kinda true... its best to sit tight on 2 gigs anyway. Wait for ddr3 to mature and then splurge on 4GB once overclockable 2x2GB kits appear.

Coming to ddr2 I'm really happy as to how long my cellshocks lasted me. They still have a lotta life left in them... atleast another 6 months. By then ddr3 would probably be worth the upgrade.
 
Yup, and even if you're still on DDR2 in a year, I'm sure you'd have very affordable 2x2GB CL4 kits to upgrade to... plus, 4GB isn't faster than 2GB if applications can't really use it... of course, windows vista will startup and shutdown faster :p
 
Vandal said:
Don't agree...its gonna be awhile till 8 GB or even 6 GB is needed for regular desktop use, and no one is going to hang on to a PC for 3-4 years, which is the time when that's likely to happen.

2 gig sticks also have significantly higher lats. 4x1 GB is good, I'm on it now...no issues.
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Am on 4 x 1 GB SuperTalent 6400 Mhz 4 4 3 8
 
Chaos said:
Get 2 kits of cellshock... 4x1 will overclock more guaranteed.
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Exactly. Though I agree that DDR3 will be worth it later on, but its not going to be a good buy for at least another 6-8 months. And that fact that they're having latency issues won't really help. Also 1800+ MHz memory is the way to go with DDR3 if you really want to see differences between that and really fast DDR2. Such memory is insanely priced.

So right now 4x1 DDR2 1066.

My OCZ XTC's are doing 4-3-3-10 @ 800 MHz, running at 2.1v, and with 4GB that's pretty fast!

btw Core's architecture is supposed to be designed for minimal memory access so won't faster memory make less and less of an impact? I think so...you guys' thoughts?

^^RiO I noticed STALKER's load times coming down, and I have this dirty tendency to open a lot of apps together :)

Am on 4 x 1 GB SuperTalent 6400 Mhz 4 4 3 8
^^I hope you mean PC6400 and not 6400 MHz :p
 
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