[NIKO-007 (old)]

I have 2x512mb of mem in 1 of my mem channels, mem prices are low at the mo so I was thinking of gettin 2x1gb to put in the other channel to give me 3gb of mem.

Now someone tells me that I must keep the mem modules the same size as I have already got or my mem performance will suffer.

Is this baloney as my manual for my AB9 mobo says just to keep the mem sticks the same size per channel..

Thanks in advance ppl.

This dual channel mode stuff is a bit new to me..

[]Vz[Bobbelin]

Well, I think it's more about the latencies of the memory. I would rather get the same 2x512 again, since I don't really see a need for 3GB.

[AKGRIZZLY (old)]

I can't say for sure how badly you'll suffer mixing them up, truth is I'm behind the times on this stuff, but personally I consider it an essential best practice to maintain the utmost anal-retentiveness with regards to what RAM I put on my board.  At this point after some serious hardware failures involving certain memory types, I'm so paranoid about it that I'm going to buy my MB, proc and max out the board with the precise manufacturer recommended RAM so I never have those problems again.  That may be a slightly excessive measure but I figure why do I want to even think about that stuff anymore.  RAM is cheap and if I just cram each slot to the max then I can quit sweating it.

[]$[Homie]

I would say that so long as the ram in each chan slot is the same .. ie as u have 2x512Mb and 1x1Gb the memory controller should sort it out ok. the only thing I would say about that setup is firstly Ive got 2x1Gb Crucial Ballistix 800Mz DDRII and I've yet to see xp use more than 85%..even running GTR2 at Le Mans with 63 other cars on the grid, at night, in the rain, only uses some 80+% RAM, so do u really need 3Gb?

The only reason I say this is with respect to stability, XP doesnt need more than 2Gb, (but does like more than 1Gb) and u are running 4 DIMM modules, of 2 different types. I would recommend loosing the 2x512Mb and just run the 2x1Gb, you will notice absolutely no difference in ur pc's speed having the extra 2x512Mb in, but u 'may' have a slightly less stable pc as a result.

The decision as always is urs

[NIKO-007 (old)]

Worst case scenario will be that I can't use the 2x512 that I have already.. but that's not a prob really, same as you say 2gb is plenty, it was an extra £28 to go for 2gb instead of 1gb so I thought sod it and went for the 2gb to hopefully future proof myself a little... if there is such a thing in the world of the PC 

I will post feedback on what happens as soon as I get the mem..

As long as I keep the channels populated with mem of the same type and size I think I will be ok... at least that's how I think it works... we shall see in a few days time...!