triple vs dual channel

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nakedmolerat

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#41757 22-Sep-2009 18:18

does anyone know if it is worth it to spend money for triple channel at the moment? some tests have shown insignificant difference between them. anyone has different opinion?

vinnieg

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#257640 22-Sep-2009 20:00

you mean DDR2 vs DDR3?
DDR3 supports triple channel
DDR2 doesn't

Lots of variables i guess, iCore 5/7 DDR3 triple, dual and single channel
AM3 DDR3 Dual or single
Core2Duo are DDR2 dual channel or single channel
AM2+/AM2 can be combinations of DDR2/DDR3 dual/single if the mobo supports it

If you love gaming and have an iCore 5/7 and want a lot faster frame rates and can afford triple channel, buy the highest mhz ddr3 you can :)

This article explains, highest mhz + triple channel does see quite an improvement and you can overclock your CPU higher with it. But it's expensive.
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/15967/8

What they don't say is the human eye can only distinguish upto round 60fps, anything higher and people won't notice. In fact most people only notice anything below 30fps.

Oh and this probably won't matter too much, but if you are building a new system, wait about a week, should see the 5850s and 5870s appear ;) and they are apparently a lot faster than the current gen of nvidia and ATI cards

So if you don't have an i5 or i7, don't get triple channel

I would say if youa re getting an iCore 7 or AM3 and DDR3 supported mobo, definitely go triple channel, otherwise you'll be left with memory in single channel(inability to do dual channel)

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#257658 22-Sep-2009 20:43

depends on so many factors - where the bottleneck in your system is, what you do with your system, how much money you have to burn, etc

eg for extreme gaming where your rig is already maxed out elsewhere and you can afford it, why not.
for watching youtube/htpc with a medium range graphics card - what's the point of dual channel even!
everything in between - i dont know the answer to that

nakedmolerat

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#257854 23-Sep-2009 15:42

vinnieg: you mean DDR2 vs DDR3?
DDR3 supports triple channel
DDR2 doesn't

Lots of variables i guess, iCore 5/7 DDR3 triple, dual and single channel
AM3 DDR3 Dual or single
Core2Duo are DDR2 dual channel or single channel
AM2+/AM2 can be combinations of DDR2/DDR3 dual/single if the mobo supports it

If you love gaming and have an iCore 5/7 and want a lot faster frame rates and can afford triple channel, buy the highest mhz ddr3 you can :)

This article explains, highest mhz + triple channel does see quite an improvement and you can overclock your CPU higher with it. But it's expensive.
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/15967/8

What they don't say is the human eye can only distinguish upto round 60fps, anything higher and people won't notice. In fact most people only notice anything below 30fps.

Oh and this probably won't matter too much, but if you are building a new system, wait about a week, should see the 5850s and 5870s appear ;) and they are apparently a lot faster than the current gen of nvidia and ATI cards

So if you don't have an i5 or i7, don't get triple channel

I would say if youa re getting an iCore 7 or AM3 and DDR3 supported mobo, definitely go triple channel, otherwise you'll be left with memory in single channel(inability to do dual channel)

thanks for the link - so it seems like triple channel is definitely worth it for games...

well, i am definitely looking to get icore 7 - but wasnt sure if i should go for icore 7 920 / icore 7 extreme - dual or triple channel etc2.

the last time i built a desktop was ~5 years ago, i have been using mac for the last 3 years. need input on the latest tech to build a good machine... i thought nvidia cards are better?? or not?? damn, so much to learn

nakedmolerat

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#257858 23-Sep-2009 15:51

joker97: depends on so many factors - where the bottleneck in your system is, what you do with your system, how much money you have to burn, etc

eg for extreme gaming where your rig is already maxed out elsewhere and you can afford it, why not.
for watching youtube/htpc with a medium range graphics card - what's the point of dual channel even!

everything in between - i dont know the answer to that

i understand your message. i wanted to know if dual or triple channel is something of benefit to spend some money on. eg: i am not going to cough up $21k for 8 core mac pro (2.93ghz) with 32GB memory when most softwares are not yet at that level/or the difference for simple gamer like me will notice any difference... i have no intention to waste my money (not that i have that much money to throw away).

that is why i ask if dual/triple channel is something that will give significant difference or not. the websites that i came across before only show benefit in testing environment, and some shows no difference.