# Any speed benefit to 2 small ram chips over 1 big one? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383 "2003-03-01T12:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/1 "2003-03-01T12:47:23Z")
Ok, I’m gonna get 512 megs of pc2700 DDR memory. Is there any inherent advantage to having 2 256 meg sticks over 1 512? I remember a long time ago that seperate ram banks could interleave, but I think that’s something that done with one chip now. Are they the same speed, or is one faster than another? Also, different modules have different designations like 64x64, 64x32, 32Mx64, etc. Can anyone explain what that means, and if there is a benefit to any particular setup? ---
**Author:** ![Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Linus\_Van\_Pelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linus_Van_Pelt)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/2 "2003-03-01T13:04:13Z")
It depends on your motherboard - some of the new ones have something called “dual channel DDR”, which requires you to have two matched sticks and is supposed to give you some speed advantage. So I’d check out your motherboard and see if it includes this feature (I’m not sure how old it is). ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/3 "2003-03-01T17:32:57Z")
Only the nForce2 and Intel’s 3205 (something like that) chipset supports it. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/4 "2003-03-01T19:48:46Z")
I’d be inclined to get one 512 meg stick, leaving a slot open for future expanson. ---
**Author:** ![LIONsob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/76d3ee/32.png) [@LIONsob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LIONsob)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/5 "2003-03-01T21:13:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > \*\*Only the nForce2 and Intel’s 3205 (something like that) chipset supports it. \*\* Small nitpick, the orginal NForce chipset also has the dual crossbar memory controllers like the NForce 2. Peace LIONsob ---
**Author:** ![LordVor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90ced4/32.png) [@LordVor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LordVor)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/6 "2003-03-02T00:33:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LIONsob \* > \*\*Small nitpick, the orginal NForce chipset also has the dual crossbar memory controllers like the NForce 2. > Peace > LIONsob \*\* Smaller nitpick: But the NForce 2 was the first to gain a measurable speed advantage by using both memory controllers. -lv ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/7 "2003-03-02T16:24:00Z")
SenorBeef, what kind of computer? I dont think you would notice any speed change. Im using 2100 instead of the 2700 that my sustem suports & I don’t notice any change at all. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/8 "2003-03-02T18:05:17Z")
Depends on overclocking. If you don’t plan to overclock your RAM, get whatever’s cheaper. If you do plan to OC, as less sticks as possible. 2700 will make a difference in memory-intensive apps. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/9 "2003-03-03T12:48:21Z")
I’m going to have a 2100+ athlon OCed to the max on probably a soyo kt400 dragon ultra (haven’t decided on the MB yet)… I plan on running at really high FSBs, so the overclockability of ram is important. So 2700+ is a must, and maybe the premium stuff to support FSBs of 180+. Why do you say lesser sticks are better for OCing? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-speed-benefit-to-2-small-ram-chips-over-1-big-one/158383/10 "2003-03-03T12:53:36Z")
I’m going to have a 2100+ athlon OCed to the max on probably a soyo kt400 dragon ultra (haven’t decided on the MB yet)… I plan on running at really high FSBs, so the overclockability of ram is important. So 2700+ is a must, and maybe the premium stuff to support FSBs of 180+. Why do you say lesser sticks are better for OCing?