Thanks for the reply, very detailed but I was wrong. The memory is 2 1gb sticks, so now I will have 2 512m and 2 1gb sticks..for 3gb of matched pairs so that should be right on with your info.....thanks much friend! Rudy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gman" <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 5:01 PM Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: 3GB or 3.5GB of memory--which is best? > Rudy, > Dell said that the sticks need to be in pairs because your mainboard > supports dual-channel memory. In dual-channel mode, the system can treat > each stick like it's own island by dedicating one to one set of processes > and the other stick to other processes. The result is a much more > functional memory control setup that works rather well in multi-core CPU > systems. It also works without multi-core CPU's but is more limited by > the > number of threads that can be running at the same time. > > If you have two slots filled with a matched pair of sticks or four > slots > fitted with 2 pairs of matched sticks, the mainboard will recognize this > and > run them in dual-channel mode. If you pull one of the sticks in EITHER of > these configurations, it will still work (no damage would occur) but the > entire system will have no choice but to revert back to single channel > mode > for ALL of the sticks and you'll lose that extra functionality. I'll also > point out that the 4GB max RAM you've read about is only MS marketing. In > the real world, XP will only recognize up to 3.12GB (exact amount may be > off > a bit) of RAM before it starts choking on it. That may or may not improve > once the official release of SP3 becomes available tomorrow (I have no > idea > if this issue is being addressed by the update, although I doubt it). > > As a result, my advice is to go with the 3GB of RAM that will keep it > operating in dual-channel mode. > > Peace, > G > > http://www.naturalnews.com/023033.html > > "The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!" --------------------------------------------------------------- Please remember to trim your replies (including this sentence and everything below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary. To unsubscribe or change your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/ To contact only the PCTT Mod Squad, write to: pctechtalk-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------------------------------------------------------------