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**MunkyPhil** · 05-31-2006, 08:00 AM

Welcome to the forum, good to have you onboard.

Dual channel doubles the bandwidth available to your RAM, allowing a performance increase of around 10-15% (I think). For example PC3200 DDR400 runs at 3.2Gb/s bandwidth or 3200Mb/s hence the PC3200. Dual channel would double this to 6400Mb/s (6.4Gb/s), doubling the maximum throughput. Of course, this doesn't double the speed of your RAM, PC3200 would still run at 400MHz.

I have 2x512Mb PC4000 DDR (CL2.5) and performance tests show it runs at PC4300 DDR2 CL3 speeds. Significant enough for me. I would choose dual channel over single channel any day, look for the dual channel kits when buying RAM, they're matched pairs and tested to run together well.

Look at your motherboard manual to get the specifics about your motherboard's capacity to allow dual channel and its RAM population rules. Your manual is a goldmine of info and it will explain everything. If you're still confused about anything feel free to post back with more questions. We're always here.

05-31-2006, 08:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
MunkyPhil TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Liverpool, England Posts: 1,140 OS: Win XP Pro SP2 My System	Welcome to the forum, good to have you onboard. Dual channel doubles the bandwidth available to your RAM, allowing a performance increase of around 10-15% (I think). For example PC3200 DDR400 runs at 3.2Gb/s bandwidth or 3200Mb/s hence the PC3200. Dual channel would double this to 6400Mb/s (6.4Gb/s), doubling the maximum throughput. Of course, this doesn't double the speed of your RAM, PC3200 would still run at 400MHz. I have 2x512Mb PC4000 DDR (CL2.5) and performance tests show it runs at PC4300 DDR2 CL3 speeds. Significant enough for me. I would choose dual channel over single channel any day, look for the dual channel kits when buying RAM, they're matched pairs and tested to run together well. Look at your motherboard manual to get the specifics about your motherboard's capacity to allow dual channel and its RAM population rules. Your manual is a goldmine of info and it will explain everything. If you're still confused about anything feel free to post back with more questions. We're always here. __________________ "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer, July 16th 1945. CPU-z -- Memtest -- Speedfan -- Prime95 -- SandraLite Important Power Supply Info -- Applying Thermal Paste -- Posting System Specs Last edited by MunkyPhil; 05-31-2006 at 08:04 AM.