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Is 1 Memory card better than 2?

Eva1Eva1 Posts: 1,249
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

I urgently need to get more RAM. I've got 8GB and want to upgrade to 16. But I'm not sure if it makes a difference with Daz Studio if I have 2x 8GB RAM cards installed or 1x 16GB RAM card. I seem to think I've read somewhere about it making a difference in performance, but can't remember where. Would it make a difference? Can anyone advise please?

Comments

  • Roboman28Roboman28 Posts: 210

    You would not notice the difference but 2 x 8Gb would be slightly faster than 1 x 16 Gb of the same speed. Thats because Double Data Rate (DDR) RAM transfers data on both sides of the cycle/MHz. So on most motherboards memory is best used in pairs. (Some new expensive motherboards like PC2011-3 are best with 4 items of RAM by the same argument but unlikely to be relevant for you). Only thing to be careful off is when you buy your 2nd 8Mb RAM is it matches a close as possible the spec of the one you have already got in the PC.

    Also look at your motherboard manual for which slots the 2 RAM items go in. If you have a cheap motherboard you might only have 2 slots but 4 is much more common. With 2 bits of RAM if you put them in the wrong slots its possible that they work but not in DDR mode so they operate a little bit slower.

  • Eva1Eva1 Posts: 1,249

    Thanks very much Roboman. I tried to do a bit more research since my post , and yes I've read elsewhere too that 2x would be slightly better than 1x. Found out my PC only takes up to 8gb cards so have to go with 2x 8gb anyway. Useful to know though, so thanks very much for your help.

  • LinkRSLinkRS Posts: 168
    Roboman28 said:

    You would not notice the difference but 2 x 8Gb would be slightly faster than 1 x 16 Gb of the same speed. Thats because Double Data Rate (DDR) RAM transfers data on both sides of the cycle/MHz. So on most motherboards memory is best used in pairs. (Some new expensive motherboards like PC2011-3 are best with 4 items of RAM by the same argument but unlikely to be relevant for you). Only thing to be careful off is when you buy your 2nd 8Mb RAM is it matches a close as possible the spec of the one you have already got in the PC.

    Also look at your motherboard manual for which slots the 2 RAM items go in. If you have a cheap motherboard you might only have 2 slots but 4 is much more common. With 2 bits of RAM if you put them in the wrong slots its possible that they work but not in DDR mode so they operate a little bit slower.

    Howdy,

    It's a bit more complicated than that, buuuuttttt.....  The main difference between two sticks of RAM vs one stick of RAM is bandwidth (how many bits of the data can be accessed at the samem time).  If your system has a "dual-channel" memory controller, then two sticks will be "wider" and faster than one.  If you have "single-channel" memory controller, you would get no benefit form having two, so go for the single stick. I always recommend you use Crucial when shopping for Memory.  If you use thier tools to find what you need, they gurantee compatibility:  http://www.crucial.com BTW, their tools weill tell you if you have singe or dual-chanel.  Some really expensive systems have triple channel or even quad-channel memory.

    Rich S.

  • Eva1Eva1 Posts: 1,249

    Thanks for the info Link, very useful.

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