[PLUG] Memory configuration question

John Meissen john at meissen.org
Fri Apr 19 17:27:29 UTC 2013


I have a question for the hardware gurus out there...

I have a system I put together about 4 years ago specifically to handle 
storing/editting the HD videos I was starting to accumulate. At the time it was 
the most money I'd spent on hardware in a long time, and included an ASUS P6T 
Deluxe LGA 1366 motherboard, an Intel core-i7 920 processor, and 3 matched 
sticks of 2GB DDR3 1066 RAM, which seemed like a lot at the time.

Now that I'm (finally) starting to seriously play with ~2hrs of HD content plus 
other assorted sound/image data I'm finding myself running out of memory.

The first step is to update the 32-bit software I'm using to newer 64-bit 
versions that weren't available back then.

But since I'm already bumping up against 4GB and I've barely begun to push it, 
I figure I should throw more memory at it while I can.

The motherboard can support 24GB DDR3 1066/1333 without overclocking. Back 
then I opted for the 1066 because even that was almost $200 for 6GB. I still 
have 3 slots open, and figured I could always throw another 3 sticks in there 
if I needed it.

However, times change and prices drop.

I can't find DDR3-1066 in 6GB matched sets anymore. I can buy 3 individual 2GB 
sticks for ~$60.

Or I can get 3 matched sticks of 4GB DDR3-1333 for about 50% more (another $30 
or so).

So the question is,...
a) will I see any noticable speed boost from the faster RAM, and
b) will the RAM access be faster by having the memory spread out in all 6 slots 
(2 banks of triple-channel RAM), or will the RAM access be just as efficient 
having it all in one set of 3 slots)?

If the hardware is more efficient using all 6 slots I might be better off 
saving the money and filling it out with the cheaper/slower RAM. If not, I 
might as well upgrade to the faster RAM while I'm at it.

john-





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