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Ok, I'll try a little more clarification.
A memory bus is 64 bit wide. Chips on a memory module are labled 32x4, 64x8, 32x16, etc. The 16 on a 32x16 module designates the bit.
The 32 on a 32x16 module designates the size of the chip in MB.
Let's do an example:
You have a 512MB memory module that has 16 chips on it. 8 on each side. Each chip is labeled 32x8.
We need enough chips to make the 64 bit memory bus. So since each chip is 8 bit, we need 8 chips. And since this module has 16 of these chips, and only 8 of them are required to make the 64 bit wide bus, this is considered a double rank module or Low Density module.
When you take the size of each chip (32) times the number it takes to make the 64 bit bus (8), this would be how much memory is in the rank (256MB).
Now since this is a double rank module, the total amount of the stick is (256x256) 512MB.
You motherboard will need to accept at least 256MB in each rank.
Next example.
1GB memory module. This has 16 chips on it, all labeled as 64x4. Because it is designated x4, each chip is only 4 bit wide. You will need all 16 chips to make the 64 bit wide memory bus. Therefore this is a single rank module or High Density.
Next example.
512MB memory module. It has 8 chips on it, all on one side. Each chip is labled 64x16. Now since each chip is 16 bit wide, it only takes 4 chips to make the 64 bit wide memory bus. And becasue there are 8 chips on this module, this is considered a double rank module or Low Density.
Imagine that. A single sided module that is low density.
It doesn't matter how the chips are arranged on the module but what type of chips are being used.
Now back to the motherboard.
What will work in your motherboard?
Read the manual.
If your motherboard has 2 slots, each slot is double ranked, and each slot will accept 1GB. This means that each slot will accept up to a 1GB double ranked or Low Density module or 512MB single rank or High Density module.
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