Benefits of adding another 2 sticks of ram

[deejayburnout]

Morning Peeps

Quick question.

I have at the moment 2 x 2GB sticks of Ram in my Rig. As its 800mhz i want to get it up to 1333mhz as thats the maximum my board will take.

However, i am better getting 4 sticks of ram using all 4 slots on my mobo or just using 2 slots. My plan is to get 4 x 2GB in the future.

Also what does all this dual channel and unganged stuff mean in real terms.

Cheers in advance.

[DarkstaR]

4x2Gb=8Gb which would be useful for apllications demanding many ressources only... But if you really want you shouldn't have to get problems with it...
Just try to get the same other two sticks or sell your first in order to buy four identical, for better compatibility (A64 memory controller prefer that).
Dual channel raises for 3 to 5 % the performance of one pc when activated and unganged mode allows the phenom memory controller to work and to treat the data separately vs ganged mode which work at 128 bits but treat the data together so less effective...

[deejayburnout]

Would it be better to have 4 x 1GB across the 4 slots than 2 x 2GB?

If there is an improvement using all 4 slots, i might get 4 x 1GB.

[DarkstaR]

If you just want to stay with 4 gigs it is better to use 2x2gb configuration than 4x1gb as phenom II/athlon II memory controller do prefer working with 2 sticks of ram than 4...Besides 4 sticks use more electrical power than 2... If you want to get 8gb sell your actual Adata and buy 2x4gb dual channel kit