Dual channel memory all its cracked up to be?

[BASPro]

Hello everyone,thought id get a poll on this,just ordered another gig of ddr2 memory for my system so i could run in dual channel,ive read a few articles and they seem to say that only about a 5% increase in response?I just dropped 100 bucks on the new memory and curious as to if it was worth it,got another gig anyway if its not.U would think that it would at least be 50% more efficient?Other than doubling my memory,is the dual channel gonna make a big diff. in response time?

[saphalline]

I voted yes because if your system is designed to use dual-channel memory, then you will see some level of performance boost. It all depends on your chipset/memory controller, though. What platform do you have?

Mine for instance is a P4C on the i865PE chipset. Dual-channel for me means about a 95% performance boost.

[BASPro]

Just to see what u think about the diff .it will make.......



Computer:


Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/)


OS Service Pack Service Pack 2


DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c) (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/)






Motherboard:


CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 550, 3400 MHz (17 x 200) (http://www.intel.com/products/browse/processor.htm)


Motherboard Name Asus P5AD2 Premium (3 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394) (http://www.asus.com/products1.aspx?l1=3)


Motherboard Chipset Intel Alderwood i925X (http://www.intel.com/products/browse/chipsets.htm)


System Memory 1024 MB (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)


BIOS Type AMI (02/03/05) (http://www.ami.com/amibios)

Display:


Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT (128 MB) (http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=products)


3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT PCI-E (http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=products)


Monitor Dell E770s [17" CRT] (2010V138BGMJ) (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.asp?customer_id=19&category_id=4009)

Multimedia:


Audio Adapter Creative SB0350 Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card (http://www.soundblaster.com/products)

Storage:


IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2652 (http://www.intel.com/products/browse/chipsets.htm)


IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F (http://www.intel.com/products/browse/chipsets.htm)


SCSI/RAID Controller ITE IT8212 ATA RAID Controller (http://www.ite.com.tw/product_info/PC/pc_product_info_2.asp)


SCSI/RAID Controller Silicon Image SiI 3114 SoftRaid 5 Controller (http://www.siimage.com/products)


Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive


Disk Drive ST3160827AS (160 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA) (http://www.seagate.com/products)


Disk Drive OEI-USB CF/SM/SD/MS USB Device


Optical Drive SONY DVD RW DW-D22A (DVD+R9:2.4x, DVD+RW:16x/4x, DVD-RW:8x/4x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW) (http://www.sonyburners.com/products/index.php)


SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:


C: (NTFS) 152617 MB (143795 MB free)

Input:


Keyboard HID Keyboard Device


Mouse HID-compliant mouse


Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network:


Network Adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (192.168.1.100) (http://www.marvell.com/products/index.jsp)


Modem U.S. Robotics V.92 Fax Win Int

Peripherals:


USB1 Controller Intel 82801FB ICH6 - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]


USB1 Controller Intel 82801FB ICH6 - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]


USB1 Controller Intel 82801FB ICH6 - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]


USB1 Controller Intel 82801FB ICH6 - USB Universal Host Controller [B-1]


USB Device Generic USB Hub


USB Device Lexmark 3100 Series


USB Device QuickCam IM


USB Device USB Composite Device


USB Device USB Human Interface Device


USB Device USB Human Interface Device


USB Device USB Human Interface Device


USB Device USB Mass Storage Device


USB Device USB Printing Support

[saphalline]

Oh yeah... if you don't have dual-channel memory, you're crippling your gaming performance! You could easily see a 10-30% increase by going dual-channel! Don't starve your P4 of data!

[hockey man]

Saphalline, what is the oldest boards that can take advantage of dual channal?

[saphalline]

Well, it's limited to chipsets really. Mobo's are just the end product of putting a chipset and ports & sockets & slots together.

Hmmm... oldest chipset with dual-channel support...

That would have to be Intel's i850 series with RDRAM! :p Besides that, we have the i865/i875 series, NVidia's NForce2 series, and various VIA and ALi off-shoots.

[hockey man]

Well, it's limited to chipsets really. Mobo's are just the end product of putting a chipset and ports & sockets & slots together.

I was arguing in my head when I wrote that "should I say MOBO or Chipset :p ?" Anyway, I have some questions about chipsets that might interest some. But I don't wan't to hijack so here is my thread (http://pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41166).

[BASPro]

Cant wait to see what kind of improvement i will get,gonna do a fresh install when i get it ,install a new cpu fan and got some sleeving.Also gonna take norton off(live and learn)and will prob go w nod32.The above pc was my first build,and i enjoy tweaking it.If u have any suggestions on my specific memory timings to save me some time playin w them on the Dual Channel!!!kingston 533 drr2 i would appreciate it and also do u have some suggestions on a very good firewall(i dont mind paying some),just want the best.Also anymore good tweaks on cpu,etc would be great also.

Be good,or be bad and be careful!!!

[saphalline]

Well, I'd need to know the stock timings for that RAM, but just as a general guideline:

You could run that RAM at DDR2-400 speeds and lower the latencies to something like 2.5-3-3-8 (if it will go that low).

Or you could run it at the stock DDR2-533 speeds and keep the stock settings.

Either way, you'd have to do some testing to see which one gives you the most performance. Or which one is more stable. :p