Memory 2 questions, 1 thread.

Question 1:

Is there any difference in performance between using 8GB of memory in a 2X4GB set up or a 4x2GB set up? My system runs an Intel Core i5 and a P67 chipset.

Question 2:

I have an old netbook and just bought a memory upgrade. It has 1GB of DDR2 667MHz and it will soon have 2GB of DDR2 800MHz. Will there a real benefit to the system performance, or have I wasted money? Processor - Intel Atom CPU N270 (yes, I know it's not a good CPU)...

 

1: I did some testing, mostly gaming but other tests too. When I went from 2x2gb to 4x2gb memory sticks, on the setup in my sig. I found that most games showed very little difference, some slightly better performance some worse. Some within variation so no real difference. The memory latency did increase though. For video and image editing it was slightly faster. I can dig out the results if you want. I suspect that 2x4gb sticks will be slightly better and tend to be more stable for overclocking. Real world differences though will not be very large.

2: I upgraded my sisters net book to 2gb and it made a huge difference with the default cut down windows 7 OS. I don't know if it will run at 800mhz or 667mhz but the amount alone will make a difference.

 

1) not in real world.

2) you went form OMG crap to bad. I would say under 4GB there is no point. But yes it is agood upgrade especial if using win7 and not XP.

 

I've heard that a 2x4GB is better but I can't see it making a big difference.

Upgrading the netbook to 2GB is a good idea but the performance gain will depend on the OS. If it's XP or a similar "lightweight" OS then I don't really think it'll make it much more responsive but it might make some applications faster.

 

The only advantage of getting 2x4GB sticks, is that you can upgrade later.

 

1: The more memory sticks you have, the more power they will consume, also might have to change command rate from 1t to 2t so the motherboard can cope with them. All this is negligible.

2: You'll notice quite a difference in 7 or Vista as it has more memory to play with. Less of a difference with XP but still handy if you have lot's open at once.

 

Thank you for all the feed back people.

 

2 DIMM is less stress on the memory bus vs 4 DIMM. Less voltage is required for IMC, so marginally lower power and more stability/oc headroom.