DDR3 ram question.

Does anyone know what the situation is with this DDR3 ram. I'm not sure whether it runs better in 3gig portions or whether it makes no difference. Any input would be much appreciated before i invest in a new PC. I did hear a rumour that DDR3 runs better in segments of 3gig lots.

ok good answer but i still don't understand what is the ideal situation. Does that mean 2gig of DDR3 will run in dual mode but it's not as good as running 3 2gig sticks, and on and on, could you please elaborate. Is DDR3 designed to run properly in sticks of 3gig? meaning something like 6gig would be an ideal installment, and if thats the case does it come in 3 gig sticks or one gig or what? thanx, and i'm not trying to be goofy or smart here i just need to know what the go is.

Check out this article -

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-Core-i7-Nehalem,2057-13.html

Analysis: Triple-Channel vs. Dual-Channel and Single-Channel
We ran the entire benchmark suite once with each of the memory configurations. Our conclusion? It doesn’t matter much to the Core i7, with its 1 MB L2 cache and 8 MB L3 cache, whether it is running its memory in a triple-, dual-, or single-channel configuration. In everyday tasks, there is absolutely no tangible performance difference: the performance delta between a tri-channel and a single-channel configuration is only 2% on average. If you already own a dual-channel DDR3 memory kit and are planning to switch to the Core i7, you don’t need to spend the extra money on a third module to run your system in tri-channel mode.

While I have no direct experience of these configurations, (I wish!!), this article would seem to indicate it is much of a much-ness.

Ciao,

Q.

Hi Scott;

Thanks for the more specific info. I was basing it on my system's info as I have an i7 920 running on an x58 MOBO with 6 GIG of DDR3 memory.

I wasn't aware that DDR2 or DDR3 sticks would work in the same MOBO. I thought DDR3 was a whole new memory type with its own form factor. Or have I misunderstood?

ORIGINAL: Qwerty69

Check out this article -

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-Core-i7-Nehalem,2057-13.html

Analysis: Triple-Channel vs. Dual-Channel and Single-Channel
We ran the entire benchmark suite once with each of the memory configurations. Our conclusion? It doesn’t matter much to the Core i7, with its 1 MB L2 cache and 8 MB L3 cache, whether it is running its memory in a triple-, dual-, or single-channel configuration. In everyday tasks, there is absolutely no tangible performance difference: the performance delta between a tri-channel and a single-channel configuration is only 2% on average. If you already own a dual-channel DDR3 memory kit and are planning to switch to the Core i7, you don’t need to spend the extra money on a third module to run your system in tri-channel mode.

While I have no direct experience of these configurations, (I wish!!), this article would seem to indicate it is much of a much-ness.

Ciao,

Q.

pointless link
""In everyday tasks, there is absolutely no tangible performance difference"""

pro audio in not every day tasks... also did you see the date?

do you know how many chipset updates there has been since?

next it will be 1066 vs 1600 is no difference.

now with all thats said it depends on your workflow like i stated above.

real audio, effects for the most part are not memory intensive.
Samples are... GUI redraw can be.

That's what I thought but after Scott's reply I wasn't sure what to make of it. That's why in reply to him I wrote; "Or have I misunderstood".

DDR3 vs DDR2 on say a P45/X38/X48 or nvidia platform is a nice boost but not huge.

again it depends on what you are doing.....

just real audio with effects not much help
for VSTi (samples) a wise upgrade.

when DDR3 was 2 times more than DDR2 i didnt recommend it for the price point at all unless a composer.
now with it basically the same price crazy not too.

where there is a HUGE improvment in memory bandwidth is on the Core i7 platform.
this is a combination of chipset, cpu and memory that makes that diff.

a high end DDR2 800 system on say P45 has memory bandwidth of say 7500
a high end DDR3 1600 system on say X48 has memory bandwidth of say 10,000
a Core i7 with DDR3 1600 on X58 has memory bandwidth of 25,000

so how does that translate for composers, heavy samples users.

Kontakt test with 2+ gig loaded 6 instances full
first one 512 buffer
2nd one 128 buffer
Core i7 48 buffer

so you see it can be a huge jump.
and again if you are not a heavy samples user the differences then become about CPU power and no so much about ram....