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Hello, I am wondering if it is a good idea to upgrade my ram. Right now I have dual channel 2x256. My friend might give me a 1gb stick. I have another 2 banks on my mobo. Should I upgrade and add another gig or will it no longer be dual channel?

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A few practical points for based on your web‑design workflow (Flash, Photoshop, Dreamweaver) and the thread above.

Measure real memory pressure first. On Windows, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and watch the Performance tab while you do a typical session. Note peak physical memory used and whether disk activity spikes when you load large PSDs or multiple files. If your working set regularly approaches or exceeds installed RAM, adding capacity will reduce swapping and give a much bigger responsiveness win than small bandwidth differences.

How to proceed if you add the 1GB stick. Identify your motherboard and per‑slot limits from the manual or the board’s label, and check the DIMM part numbers (stick labels or an SPD reader utility) before buying replacements. Matching speed, voltage and timings avoids surprises; if you mix modules, test that BIOS detects the expected total and run a quick stability test (stress the apps you use). If you plan to keep this machine, buying a matched pair is the cleanest long‑term route.

Short, practical tweaks while you decide: set Photoshop scratch disks to the fastest available drive, reduce history states/cache levels, close other heavy apps when editing, and keep the pagefile on a non‑busy drive if possible. As suggested, base the final choice on what your actual workflow measurements show rather than assumptions about theoretical gains.

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Member Avatar for dcc

Hello, I am wondering if it is a good idea to upgrade my ram. Right now I have dual channel 2x256. My friend might give me a 1gb stick. I have another 2 banks on my mobo. Should I upgrade and add another gig or will it no longer be dual channel?

Hi runcmd3, welcome to Dani Web.

If you add the one 1GB module you will not be able to run in dual mode. Dual mode requires two modules with the exact same specs, this includes the size of the module.

You could see if you can find another module to match the 1GB module your friend has given you, you should be able to get the make and model from the information on the module.

Member Avatar for runcmd3

yeah i could do that but my computer only supports 2 gb total. which is better 1.5gb normal ram or .5gb dual? im mainly using the computer for web design w/ flash photoshop and dreamweaver.

Member Avatar for dcc

1GB in single channel will be better than two 256MB modules in dual channel.

What I was suggesting was to see if you can find another module to match the one your friend is offering you and run the two 1GB modules in dual channel. Then you could sell the other 256MB modules.

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