Memory; two 256 sticks or one 512?

[videobruce]

Using a nForce2 MB with 3 slots, am I better off with 2 256MB sticks or one 512MB stick? Price is close, the arguments for one are; half the number of contacts to have a problem with, BUT don't you need a 'pair' to get the dual memory function?
If you do need the pair, what then about the 3rd slot? If you use it does it mess up the pair you already have?

Hope that made sense. I'm running 2k BTW.

[franklin1000]

Hey, been looking into this lately. Duel channel does work enough to go ahead and use the two like 256mb sticks. You do not need to buy a kit of matched mem. Do it yourself and save money. Using two sticks means if one goes out, yank it, and you still have a system until it is replaced. You can still get the dual channel effect if a third stick is added. From what I have read the board is hardwired on those two slots for this.

[paul9]

better still, buy a 512 stick, then save for a second
and yes, you do need a pair of matched sticks for dual channel operation

[elroy]

I always buy a single large stick and get a 2nd later. To many times on down the road I have regretted getting a small stick and using up all my slots. The performance increase from dual channel is not very much anyway. Maybe 5%.

[nwo75200]

These days, you should never get sticks smaller than 512MB because upgrading in the future will be expensive. So my vote goes out to a single 512MB stick