[Karpfish]

so i just got the money to buy some more ram,and i have a big question. Is ti critical to have matched pairs? i will eventually go up to 2gb, but i dont have the money now. I have enough for 1 gig. I obviously dont want to buy 2X512 becayse then i have to buy 2X1gb when i want 2 gb. can i buy a 1 gig stick and have 1.25gb?.

[mduell]

The computer will run fine with unmatched modules. Graphics performance will suffer a bit, but that may be outweighed by having more memory.

I'd go with 1024+256 for now and upgrade to 2GB when you can.

[Karpfish]

that is what i am doing. it shouldnt be long until i can get the next gig, maybe a week or 2

[p0stman]

I guess the question is always 2 x 512 VS. 1 x 1 gb + 256 mb. I have been looking for the answer to that as well. Unfortunately and surprisingly, no one has done a test with the precise setup mentioned. However, I have a friend doing a masters in computer science and he tells me 1.25 will beat a 1.0 matched in just about every respect.

Also, the forums are really not a good place to ask about something like this, as most posters mix-match information from different sources or basically "guess." For example, most people are aware that having matched pairs bring a small "benefit," but at the same time no one knows exactly how much. So when we take into account that we don't exactly know how much more performance a 256 mb gain is as well, the question of 1 gb matched vs 1.25 unmatched becomes ambiguous. In this case the best decision that can be made is to go with 1.25, since at the very least this offers the option of sensably upgrading to 2 gb later, where the ambiguity ends (hence most people get 2 gb to stop their worrying.)