dual-channel

I saw many people use 1GBx2 DDR2 ram. Can I use 2GBx1 to save a slot?
Somebody told me that dual-channel means you have to use two ram. One ram
cannot be dual-channel. Is this correct?

senderj wrote:
> I saw many people use 1GBx2 DDR2 ram. Can I use 2GBx1 to save a slot?
> Somebody told me that dual-channel means you have to use two ram. One ram
> cannot be dual-channel. Is this correct?
>

Correct, one RAM by itself, cannot be dual-channel.

Why exactly, are you trying to save a slot ? The bigger the capacity of
a stick, the better the odds you'll be paying more for it. The 2x1GB
might be cheaper than a single 2GB stick.

Paul

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:42:11 +0800, "senderj" <senderj@happy.net>
wrote:

>I saw many people use 1GBx2 DDR2 ram. Can I use 2GBx1 to save a slot?
>Somebody told me that dual-channel means you have to use two ram. One ram
>cannot be dual-channel. Is this correct?
>

True, you need to have two identical sticks to run the ram in dual
channel. However, just because your motherboard is *capable* of dual
channel memory access doesn't mean you have to do it that way.

As you said, you can use a single stick and save a slot -- you just
have to check with the manufacturer about the memory limits per slot.

While I'm not aware of any DDR2 motherboards that won't handle a 2Gig
module, anything over the "per slot" limit just isn't seen. For
example, on an older system of mine, it had this weird 320Meg limit
per slot. If I plugged in a 512Meg or 1Gig module, all it'd report
was the first 320 megs.

Anyway's, assuming no issues with memory limits, and all else being
equal, 1x2GB will be slightly slower than 2x1GB. Whether this
difference is noticeable or not depends on usage.

--------------------------------------------------
Thanks,
MCheu

That is correct.

--
---------------------
DaveW
"senderj" <senderj@happy.net> wrote in message news:469c80e4$1@127.0.0.1...
>I saw many people use 1GBx2 DDR2 ram. Can I use 2GBx1 to save a slot?
>Somebody told me that dual-channel means you have to use two ram. One ram
>cannot be dual-channel. Is this correct?
>

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:42:11 +0800, "senderj" <senderj@happy.net>
wrote:

>I saw many people use 1GBx2 DDR2 ram. Can I use 2GBx1 to save a slot?
>Somebody told me that dual-channel means you have to use two ram. One ram
>cannot be dual-channel. Is this correct?
>
It'll still work with one ram board, just not dual channel, I've done
it.

Thanks for all your help.

"senderj" <senderj@happy.net> wrote in message news:469c80e4$1@127.0.0.1...
>I saw many people use 1GBx2 DDR2 ram. Can I use 2GBx1 to save a slot?
>Somebody told me that dual-channel means you have to use two ram. One ram
>cannot be dual-channel. Is this correct?
>