Thanks for that link. I wonder if it would be better to wait for 3200 DDR to
come out in 1GB sticks. I have a Corsair CAS2 512 2700 in there now, and it
would be nice to at least keep that speed/timing in a 1GB stick. I might be
asking for something that doesn't yet exist, though.
greg
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/con...sp?SysID=+13239+&distributor=0&submit1=Search
KVR333X64C25/1G 1GB 333MHz DDR PC2700 DIMM CL2.5 $799.00
You need unbuffered RAM, and also DIMMs that don't have stacked chips.
Samsung does make the necessary memory chips and also lists various
modules at the 1GB capacity, but it is hard to track down the particular
part numbers. If you search Pricewatch, as you note, many of the 1GB
DIMMs are generic - be careful, because they are probably not the right
type for the job.
The A7N8X is supposed to have an address bus per DIMM slot, which should
make the use of stacked RAM (double address bus loading) possible. But
proving that theory for you could be expensive.
The Mushkin Mainboard Qualification list has this to say:
"Unlike the original nForce 420 or 415, the nForce 2 does not take
any performance hit with a single DIMM as opposed to two DIMMs,
however, running 1GB unbuffered DIMMs, the performance dropped by
approximately 50% which may be caused by the specific addressing
scheme of the chipset. Please note that this performance hit occurs
only with actual 1GB modules, not two 512MB modules used together
for a total of 1GB. 512MB modules work perfectly and do not cause
performance loss."
so, perhaps you should email Mushkin and ask for more details as to why.
To find the URL, when you go to the Mushkin site, they have a cookie
embedded in each generated URL. It is unique for each visit to the
site. Click any link off the main page, then look in your URL window
at the result. When you go to their site, replace the section in the
following URL **** with the 32 character cookie generated for you,
to find this info (I cannot give you my cookie, because if will
be stale by the time you try it):
http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/****/Product/View/990880#asusa7n8x
Life is much simplified for you, if you stay at the 3x512MB level.
More than 1.5GB is possible, but incurs a heavy financial and (maybe)
a bit of a performance penalty. For example, if you regularly do
Photoshop on extremely large images, there is a benefit to avoiding
the scratch disk, so more memory might pay off, even if it is 50%
slower. You should also do some research into both the OS you are
using, and the application programs themselves, to be sure they
don't have some internal limits that would make it impossible to
use the extra memory. For example, when 2GB modules become available
some day, on many motherboards, you will only get to use about 3.5GB
of 2x2GB modules, due to the need for some address space in the
chipset.
I just looked at a few parts on the Samsung website, and 64Mx8 chips
are shown as "Q3 03". So, true unbuffered double sided 64Mx8
unstacked chip based memory modules are right around the corner -
even though the status was showing them as shipping before.
(Stacked modules, the ones with two dice in the same IC package, are
usually listed as x4 memories, as in 128Mx4 chips). If you do decide
to try some stacked modules, see if the vendor will take them back
for a restocking fee.
This link on the Mushkin site, lists some of their "adventures"
using 1GB DIMMs - some motherboards can drive the stacked chips
just fine:
http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/****/Product/View/990925
HTH,
Paul
