rallee2{at}comcast.net wrote:
> Hello Derek
> 
> responses follow ....
> 
>  -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: "Derek W. Keoughan" 
>> rallee2{at}comcast.net wrote:
>>> Hello Julian
>>>   First off it seems as if you are upgrading a somewhat older
board since it 
>> is DDR v1 while newest is DDR v3.  This is in no way meant as any kind of 
>> demeaning statement since I have that, too.  The point is, or
rather "points 
>> are"
>>>   1) 2 steps behind current means considerable savings on ram
per size unit
>>>    2) Until it passes far enough out of mainstream that supply
diminishes and 
>> prices go back up
>>>   3)  We are always going to need more and more ram
>> Jimmy - three points...
>>
>> 1) if memory serves, there's only THREE RAM slots in the motherboard, so 
>> talk of using all four is moot
> 
> Ooops!  Didn't realize any mobo capable of striping ram would stoop to
providing an odd number of slots and aparently missed this one does. 
Helluva overrsight on both our parts, eh?

No, I got it right. :)

>> 2) DDR1 is more expensive than DDR2 RAM (at least, checking my wholesale 
>> prices today - more expensive to buy 512MB of DDR400 than 1024MB of 
>> DDR2-667)
> 
> Besides the fact that I was comparing DDR1 vs/ DDR3

You stated that "two steps behind current means considerable savings"... 
DDR2 is cheaper than DDR and only one step behind... not even factoring 
in the cost of a new motherboard and CPU - which was NOT in the original 
question.

DDR3 is about $125/GB, which does support your claim, but again, 
ignoring that a new motherboard would be needed.

In performance, DDR3 > DDR2 > DDR, but currently,
       in price, DDR2 < DDR  < DDR3

I find that the supply/demand trends are somewhat subject to other 
market trends affecting particularly supply such as when manufacturers 
geared up for the expected windfall from Vista before they discovered 
what a turkey it is and so watching weekly one can find some fairly 
amazing buys assuming one is looking for price only. I sometimes do that 
too but if the system warrants it like my most recent one does I just 
watch for decent sales on high quality ram.  I recently got a good deal 
on OCZ Platinum matching, low latency 1G sticks and am very happy 
indeed, since I overclock and tune to hot rod specs.  I enjoy getting 
the biggest possible bang for the buck..

...and, apparently, jumping in on threads of discussion with irrelevant 
information, skewed to your own personal experiences and requirements, 
instead of answering the questions asked.

>> 3) RAM needs only scale up as you keep adding bloated software to a 
>> system... for most eCS users, 1GB is more than plenty.
> 
>    While it is certainly true that bloated software and that other
windoze ill, spyware, is a huge factor in ram requirements, it is by no
means the only one.  For example some kinds of work require or at least
benefit from multiple, simoultaneously open apps and this too drives up ram
requirements as does the ever increasing amount of multimedia (primarily
flash and java based) content on web pages these days and that too will
only likely increase.  Point being, as computers can do more they are asked
to do more not to mention the effect of increased broadband adoption
prompting more and more ram intensive content.
>   Then, too, is the possibility that many if not most eCS/OS2 either
run emulating software or dual boot to get that one indispensable app to
work that requires windows or some        
>  "virtualization" thereof.  If we add the possibility of PC
gaming to the mix, well just forget about it, you need oodles of ram. 
Bottom line, IMHO, if, for any reason one finds a paging file being
accessed even 5%-10% of the time one should really consider more ram.  The
cumulative wasted time of waiting around for a hard drive, when there are
alternatives, is worth the cost of ram if your time has any value whatever,
especially with slower hard drives such as commonly found on laptops and
OEM desktop PCs.

Bla bla bla bla...

Can we stick to the topic and question at hand?

I'm not wrestling smoke with you...

We're not talking multimedia, gaming, Windows, spyware, virtualization, 
or anything else.

We're not talking DDR3, DDR2, etc, etc...

Your depth of knowledge on the subjects you added in is commendable, 
Jimmy - but like bicycle tires on a Lamborghini, (or more appropriately, 
a V8 engine on a moped) - totally out of place here.

The _original_ question was if he was better off using 1.25GB with mixed 
sticks in terms of performance, _on the motherboard he already has_, 
compared to 1.00GB of matched RAM running in dual-channel mode.

My view is that dual-channel is preferred - the gain of 256MB of RAM 
going from 1.00 to 1.25GB in "the average system" would not offset the 
loss of memory performance without dual-channel engaged, even though it 
it a minor gain.

I don't have hard numbers for comparison, but I'm running a Windows XP 
box here with a dual-core CPU, 577 threads and 49 processes (including 6 
Firefox windows, Thunderbird, my QuickBooks accounting program, JAVA, 
two PUTTY sessions to my Linux fileservers, etc.)... and it's currently 
using 884MB of active RAM, though there's 2048MB installed.  (in 2x 
1024MB dual-channel DDR)

Since everything in memory funnels through the hard drive at some point 
- coming off it or being written to it, it's a matter of balance, and 
minimizing bottlenecks.

If Julian is considering tweaking the performance to within an inch of 
its life - instead of going for system stability - then I'm sure he can 
stress-test it in both situations and time it with his real-world 
applications and system loading.

I've already provided him with a link to a Linux-based memory testing 
application that will show him the memory timings in use in whatever 
configuration he wants to try, so he can make a more-educated decision.

(Far more than) enough said.

-Derek

-- 

Derek W. Keoughan,
Finnegan Software, Inc.,  Brampton, Ontario, Canada  http://www.finnsoft.com
416-410-4774 phone - 800-258-0033 toll free - 905-846-5516 fax

Consulting, Networking, Cabling, Internet, Hardware, Software, Tech Support
eComStation, OS/2 Warp/Server, WinXP/2000/NT/Me/9x, Linux
Customized PURRformance PC's & Servers, OnSite Services, Installations 
and Upgrades

= Celebrating 12 years of "happily purring" computing - Founded
1995-02-02 =

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http://www.cafepress.com/finnsoft

View my profile on LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/in/derekkeoughan


 
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