Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone

Happy New Year Let's all your dreams come true

I'm going to buy more memory to my T61 and want to buy more memory from newegg.com

I saw a nice deal: Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) duall chanel for 39.99$.
There's also Corsair 2GB in one stick.
I need advice what's better: 2GB in one stick or in Dual-Chanel

Thank you for all replies.

Regards,

getting 2 x 1GB would be better for Dual-Channel but maybe the 2GB would be good so that later when you upgrade to 4GB you'll get dual channel then as well as max ram too

i doubt you'll ever notice a speed difference in either case.   buy whichever makes more sense for your application.   if you think 2GB will last you a long time then get the 2x1GB modules.   if you think you'll be upgrading again in the next 9~12 months then get the 2GB module.

from what i read dual channel may give from 0 to 10% increase in speed. this varies and works differently with different applications.

Get the one stick. Expandability is more important then the minor gain of dual channel.

Why not buy 4gb (2x2gb). I have seen them as cheap as $60 for both (OCZ).

I completely disagree.

Always go dual channel.

4GB is $80 today. (2x2GB) - If you upgrade in 6 months it will be $50. Who cares if you need to throw away the old SO-DIMMS.

The traditional wisdom on dual channel is that for gaming single channel offers a slight benefit, while for big processing jobs (Photoshop etc) dual channel offers a slight benefit.

For general purpose computing, there's really nothing in it either way.

Cheers,

Bill B.

What? Why would single channel ever offer a benefit. That makes no sense. Is there a benchmark that says so. If this is more than an urban legend, I would bet on experimental error as the explanation.

awolfe63 wrote:Why would single channel ever offer a benefit.

Slightly lower latency, which is important to many gamers.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Back in the DDR1 years, the difference between in data transfer rate between dual channel and single channel is almost double. But difference in DDR2 is, liket the ohter poster said, < 10%

I would go for 1 stick of 2Gb for sure. In fact, I would get 2 X 2Gb because there is always a slight chance that if you didn't buy both memory together, they might not play well together.

HTH

bill bolton wrote:

awolfe63 wrote:Why would single channel ever offer a benefit.

Slightly lower latency

Really?! I would love to see an explanation of how dual channel increases latency ...

Hi everyone

Thankx for all answers.
I forgot to mention that I play games very rarely.
Usually I use my ThinkPad to Skype,office work,watching multimedia..
Should I use in that case 2GB in one stick or Dual-Chanel

Regards,

masterus wrote:Should I use in that case 2GB in one stick or Dual-Chanel?

The only considerations are price and whether or not you need a free slot for adding at a later time to the 2GB. There are zero performance considerations for Windows applications with respect to single vs. dual channel.

In other words, forget you ever heard about single vs. dual channel. Get 2GB in one stick if price is not an obstacle.

Agreed. Take the one stick.

I've just tested both single and dual channel with 2Gb sticks... You will never notice the difference for what you do. Even with gaming it is not that noticeable.

Some people are very attached to the 2-3 framerate difference it makes in games... But frankly, if they didnt have the FPS indicator, they never would have noticed the difference.

Hi,

How about system (Windows XP Pro) boot
Is there any diference noticeable
Thankx for all replies.

Regards,

not at all.   boot speed has more to do with the spindle speed of your hard drive.   my 7-year-old thinkpad s30 reaches the XP login screen in 35 seconds flat with a 7200RPM drive, PIII 667, and 256MB of PC-100 memory.

On the T61P having two sticks of RAM causes problems. I have two sticks and I'm currently running only one because of these problems.

Advantages of having 1 stick of 2GB:

1) slightly longer battery life (one or two minutes longer)

2) a little less weight (about 0.02 lbs lighter)

3) the ease of adding more memory because you've an empty slot.

Advantages of 2x1GB:

1) dual channel mode (which improves performance by about 5%)

2) a slightly lower cost (around $10?)

You'll need to decide for yourself which of these factors are more important.

I think that is absolutely right. I was concerned about the power issue - so I made some measurements before I upgraded. It really is only 1 or 2 minutes.

The other thing is if you go the 1 GB x 2 route, then if you ever want to upgrade to more memory from that point, you have to buy one or two new 2GB sticks and junk one or both of your one GB sticks. That's why I think it's a waste to buy a one GB stick when Two GB sticks are so cheap now.

if you have the money, there is no point to buy 2x1gb at all. When you want to upgrade to 4gb (which max out the bank) you will need to throw out that 2x1GB chip.

If the price difference is just $10, GO WITH SINGLE ship of 2GB. I have currently 2x2GB installed. One chip is Adira and the other one is Samsung. It works wonderfully. XP can only see 3GB though.

Hey, I have a question. I'm considering replacing one of my 1GB sticks with a 2GB one, and then later on I'll buy another one. If I want to take advantage of dual channel, do I have to match the brand of the sticks, or do I only have to worry about the speed?

worry about the the speed only. Dont bother about the brand. someone correct me if I am wrong