Someone talk me out of buying another 2gb RAM kit!

[Oobie-]

I really want to buy another 2gb kit to make my total 4gb (but using XP it will only be 3.5 or so) Although I do plan to dual boot vista in the near future....

So...tell me why I shouldnt bother!

PS. I can get my RAM for £30.09 (which is why its so tempting!)

[Clunk]

Buy it, you know you want it.

[SiM]

Get a 4GB kit. Much better value. Then demote/sell your 2GB kit

I saw 4gb for ~£32 somewhere iirc. I'll try and find it for you..

[jonathan_phang]

You picked the wrong forum to persuade you out of buying it... but seriously, for the money, its good value, 32bit OS or not. There is a difference and if you move to Vista (hopefully x64) then it will be worth it.

So - BUY it...

OH - actually, wait for Sim - 4GB kit seems better value - especially as some boards are a bit picky when it comes to populating 4 slots (Things like stability, reducing max PCIe speed etc...might want to have a google in case your board might have some issues)

[Zsev]

I fear the OP will end up with some brand new sticks of RAM contrary to what his initial intentions are. Tee hee hee

[0iD]

^What they said^

BUY!

[Lee H]

Get the 4 Gb and get 64-bit windows installed

I'm getting another 4 Gb shortly to increase mine upto 8 Gb so it run's even more smoothly while it's running various servers etc for streaming and playing media files and the odd LAN game or two.

[dave87]

I bought 2gb with my PC, then wanted more, so ended up buying Vista Ultimate and a 4gb kit.

I'm not very good at persuading myself out of things, let alone anyone else

[s3ds]

im thinking about doing the same thing 2x2gb sticks to replace 2x1gb and moving them to another pc (4x1gb) both with xp ( as soon as the software i use supports vista 64 then im updating )

[Oobie-]

Ah, I didnt think that populating the 4 slots would be a problem! *checks*

And as for buying a 4gb kit - I still end up with 4gb, same speed, same cas and still spending the same amount! I just end up with spare sticks!
I take it the benefit is that they are 2x2gb so I still only use 2 slots? Or am I missing something?

[Maccer101]

It can potentially be more of a pain when overclocking if you are using 4 sticks instead of 2, only what I've read though as have never overclocked with more than 2 sticks.

Why not buy the 2x2gb for £6-10 more and when you move to 64bit you will have 6gb RAM for your system?

[Oobie-]

Hmmm - sounds like something I'd rather not deal with. However, say if you were to buy another 2x2gb kit (once you have a 2x2gb kit), and populate all slots - would the same potential problem happen?

[handscombmp]

Scan today only (under Corsair memory, the first 4GB (2x2GB) kit in DDR2 Memory - PC6400) have got these for £36.41.
I get that if i was you and keep your old ones for later or sell them.
2 sticks is better for overclocking

[Oobie-]

Cas 5 though. I know Ive read everywhere that it doesnt really make the slightest difference, but when overclocking is when it comes into play?.. Maybe Im missing the point!

Aside from having *Some* sort of problem when populating all for DIMM slots, what are the drawbacks? Can you not push the fsb as high as you would be able to with just 2 sticks? More voltage to them, loosen the timings?

[spiral out]

I would go for the 2x2gb corsair kit that was recommended above, as i have just done that and also moved to vista 64 no regrets.

I am thinking about putting my Geil 2x1gb sticks back in too, but am concerned if it will cause problems with my modest overclock.

[NightshadowUK]

Aside from having *Some* sort of problem when populating all for DIMM slots, what are the drawbacks? Can you not push the fsb as high as you would be able to with just 2 sticks? More voltage to them, loosen the timings?

I've found odd things happen like certain memory dividers deciding not to work but generally you'll find that your beautiful, blood-sweat-and-tears overclock, which was perfectly stable running two sticks of memory, suddenly becomes unstable. So you have to go back and tweak everything again, looking for the problem. Basically it puts more stress on the motherboard, draws more power and doubles your chances of having memory issues.

That said I know plenty of people who've had no problems at all running four sticks so it's up to you really.

My advice, don't risk it to save a few quid. Get 2x2GB and sell your old stuff on.