8gb or 4gb with the p55 dual mem controller?

[redrooster303]

with my p55 chipset and i7860 it says it has a dual memory controller so i have two stick of 2gb ram in it because i was told this is optimal. i've been wanting to buy another 4gb for abit but i was told i would lose the dual mem control functionality and see a performance drop with 4x2gb sticks in.
what kind of performance drop would i see, is it noticable? i would get the extra memory now and when i upgrade to sandybridge/bulldozer next year i'll have the extra memory for that too. just been thinking about it while the memory is so cheap. + rep for info, thanks:)

[TheMadDutchDude]

That's a lie. You won't lose the dual channel function. The only thing you may have to do is up the IMC voltage a little. Possibly vTT as well depending on how well your CPU copes with the extra RAM.

You may have to downclock the RAM depending on how well your CPU can handle all four memory banks being full.

[redrooster303]

well i have my ram set at 1740 at the minute so i can afford to fetch it down abit.
your in your opinion this is a load of c**p and i'll still get good performance with 8gb as i would with 4gb.?
great, i know what my next purchase is. someone told me that on another forum and since then i haven't wanted to get more ram thinking it will slow things down lol. you learn something new everyday +1:):thumb:

[marsey99]

you will lose a little bit of "performance" by maxxing out the mem controller as it will increase the internal latencies to compensate the extra strain but you would only see this drop in synthetic benchmarks, not real world use. what you gain on the other hand is twice as much ram, which will aid real world use :thumb:

x58 had issues going from 3 dims to 6 but p55 has none that i have seen going from 2 to 4 dimms as long as the ram is on the tested ok lists ;)

[TheMadDutchDude]

Exactly as above. You'll lose a little bit of performance on benchmarks but when it comes to real world things that are heavy on the RAM; you'll be laughing!

[redrooster303]

ok, i can take advantage of the offer on g-skill ripjaw ram now.:thumb:

[k3vs]

8 gig or 4 gig doesnt matter to me.

[conoflex]

I have been running 8 gig of ram in machine for months and as TheMadDutchDude says makes a difference in the real world. :thumb:

Andy

[Guest]

the ripjaw series is good value for money

[marsey99]

I have been running 8 gig of ram in machine for months and as TheMadDutchDude says makes a difference in the real world. :thumb:

Andy

Nice 1 Andy, ignore the fact it was me that said it ;)

[TheMadDutchDude]

Nice 1 Andy, ignore the fact it was me that said it ;)

That's not important...:rolleyes:

[Danltn]

To be honest DDR3 is likely to fall as more and more people purchase DDR3 boards, there's no true harm in waiting if you don't need it right now.