RAM upgrade question

[xpgeek]

Going to be getting another gig of RAM for PC.

Have a gig of DDR2 PC5300 now, which is two sticks of 512.

Have two empty RAM slots.

Simple question, which is better, adding a single stick of 1 gig, or adding two sticks of 512?

Price doesn't matter, both almost exact same in price, so question is which is better for the PC itself. Does it make any difference at all, or should it be balanced among all slots, four 512 sticks instead of two 512 sticks and one 1 gig stick leaving one empty slot.

Would it perform better being balanced out, does it matter at all?

[Micron]

Shouldnt really matter, as long as both ram pairs match (make and model), and same woth the new stick, dosent matter that its 1gb stick as long as its the same type.

[cfryback]

You might get a BIOS warning though on boot up. That is the case with our HP DC 7600's.

It complains once, but runs fine.

[xpgeek]

Get a BIOS warning of what?

[cfryback]

Misconfiguration of RAM. The HP's get upset that there is say two 512 sticks in the "primary" memory slots and a 1 Gig stick in only one of the "secondary" slots.

It is mostly complaining that the ram isn't "optimised" as the techs at HP had wanted it. No other issues with it.

Having ram at different clock speeds can cause issues, but it is rare when that happens.

[xpgeek]

I researched it alot this morning. I do need two sticks of even match as it is dual channel DDR2, and it must be ECC ram too to match the ram I have that is ECC. The system is using its ECC functionality too, so its highly not advisable to mix ECC and non ECC modules is what I see everywhere.

Good DDR2 ram that is also ECC is a bit pricey, but I found the best price, and lifetime warranty, to be if I just order the ram straight from Dell. So thats what I'm gonna do.

[Spitfire Phoenix]

My Comp is setup for 4GIG ram but I only at 2GIG ram... I personaly like to use 4 512 sticks on this one.. I just look at it like this.. If you don't have the money to buy 1Gig sync'd or other types of 1 GIG or higher. stick to the 512's generally better off replacing 512's then 1 and 2 gig sticks.. excp if you are an Overclocker.

However , if you do not have the O.C. or never use it.. then I'd say search around.. There are some decently priced matched sets of 1 and 2 gig out there.. the question is. How long are you willing to wait if you purchace it online? If your willing to shop around world wide.. you can generally save yourself 50-120.00 in U.S. $ on Ram upgrades if not more.