2Gb 667 or 3Gb 533 ddr2 ram ?

[lenix]

What's up,

I know this is a silly question ;/ But i was wondering, I'm getting 2x1Gb 667 ram soon, i already have 2x512 533 installed.. so now if i add the 2x1Gb they'll be running at the lower speed ram which is 533mhz... now what would be better, to run on the 2 new sticks alone (on 667) ? or run on all sticks with a lower speed (533) ? is there a big difference ? what do you guys think ?

many thanks in advance

ps: i know that i can't use more than 3gb on a 32bit system.. but some people are telling me that a 32bit system can allocate only 2gigas of ram to a single task.. if that's true, my extra 2x512 sticks will be unusable while gaming or working in programs.. any ideas?

Rob maybe you'll help me i liked your ram benchmarks hehe

 

[Rob Williams]

3GB on a 32-Bit OS cannot be allocated to a single program, which is correct. However, there is nothing stopping two different applications using 1.5GB each, theoretically. Therefore, 3GB is going to be beneficial if you are a huge multi-tasker. As for lack of speed, 533 and 667 isn't fast by todays standards, and chances are you won't notice any differences either way. I'd personally keep all 3GB in there and see how you enjoy it.

Just be sure to put a 1GB stick in A1 and B1 slots and then the 512MB's in A2 and B2, because it should prove the most efficient.

 

[lenix]

Will Dual Channel works if both of the 2x512 are identical and both of the 1x1gb are identical ? or all 4 dimms must be identical ?

Plus if i put in all of the sticks together, i read about some /3G boot.ini switch.. will that make games use more than 2gigas of ram ? or there are no games designed to work with this /3G switch ?

Last question, Do you think i'll feel a performance boost when i get this extra 2 gigas ? i play a lot of games, use photoshop sometimes, and i have a lot of running programs in the tray.. would i feel a performance boost ?

Thanks for your help