They REAL difference between dual channel kits and individual pieces

[Synthos]

What is it?


If one was to buy two of the same model dimm stick and compare it with one of the dual channel "kits" what's the difference?

 

[Asus]

With kits they test both sticks together and make sure they work at the specific speed/timings. With singles they just test them individually. Thats about it...besides price.
I generally buy what is cheaper which is generally kits.

If you take two sticks that are rated for different speeds/timings they will both run at the slower stick's speed.

 

[3ssence]

Yup, that's pretty much it !! Imo worth buying the kits anyways because it would be a right pain in the ass to buy say 2 1gb sticks of ram only to find that you coudn't run them dual channel or had to compromise in some way, and as asus says, it's often cheaper to buy them in dual channel kits anyway.

 

[Naudian]

Edit: Okay so even if you buy two of the exact same model stick, they may not run in dual channel?

I bought two 512 Kingston sticks, not in a kit but from the same site at the same time. Will they likely be running in 'dual channel' automatically or will I have to configure them myself?

 

[Barney Fife]

Edit: Okay so even if you buy two of the exact same model stick, they may not run in dual channel?

I bought two 512 Kingston sticks, not in a kit but from the same site at the same time. Will they likely be running in 'dual channel' automatically or will I have to configure them myself?

Yes they will run in dual channel, and no they wont run the same rate when bought individually, because each stick has been tested separately, and their rates might be slower or faster (like the, Glass half full, have empty kind of situation) rate. But they will both run at the slower chip's rate, which you can correct this through the BIOS (If BIOS supports this option). Either way you will not notice the differences with your naked eye. And the main reason why people buy the two of the kind kit is for the price. This is something you shouldn't worry about as you will never notice this with your naked sensors.

This is same as if you mix sticks like PC2700 with PC3200, the MOBO will run both chips at PC2700 rate.

Good Luck.

 

[Synthos]

thing is, my preffered ram brand and supplier does not offer 2x1 gb packages, just the 1GB sticks individually

 

[3ssence]

Whom might that be ?

 

[Asus]

They should be fine.

But for example I just bought a Corsair XMS PC4000 kit and it's rated to do 3-4-4-8 memory. No issues since they were matched. If I bought them individually and one stick was tempermental and only run at 3-4-4-10 then it would clock the other stick at the same.

 

[Synthos]

Whom might that be ?

I'm trying to get 2GB of corsair (value select) from www.ncix.com

P.S. thanks asus and barney

 

[Dirk Pitt]

http://search.ncix.com/displayproductdetail.php?sku=15448&vpn=VS2GBKIT400C3&manufacture=CORSAIR

2GB dual channel pc3200 corsair value select kit (from ncix.com)

 

[NeptuneUK]

i bought 2 identical ram sticks and they run fine in dual channel mode whats everyone on about speeds and crap synthos said he was getting the same speed ram.... your motherboard will auto set them into dual channel.
synthos i bought 2 X 1gb corsair value, theyre great, go for it. mine are DDR2 though
my old pc had 2 different PC2700 sticks, they worked fine.

 

[Barney Fife]

i bought 2 identical ram sticks and they run fine in dual channel mode whats everyone on about speeds and crap synthos said he was getting the same speed ram.... your motherboard will auto set them into dual channel.
synthos i bought 2 X 1gb corsair value, theyre great, go for it. mine are DDR2 though
my old pc had 2 different PC2700 sticks, they worked fine.

Like I said you won't see the difference with your naked eye. Try benchmarking and check the speed rate, and it is a different story.

 

[NeptuneUK]

theres more to life than benchmarking and trying to get your 3D mark score 10 points higher. what matters is what your going to use your PC for. if all you want to do is benchmark then fair enough get extra expensive low latency RAM and notice the difference. i just want some RAM to play my games with not feed my e-penis.
you're right, i wont be able to tell the difference with my eye, so what difference does it make? if i get the same performance in my games.

 

[Barney Fife]

Lol I agree. "E-Penis" Fikin lol.

 

[NeptuneUK]

have you checked the steam hardware survey?? do you really think that everyone with pc specs in their sigs is telling the truth? or maybe they're just lonely 12 year old kids looking for a quick e-penis enlargement