Differences between Non dual and dual channel motherboards??

[optinox]

Hi all,

I may be purchasing a new motherboard and then one I've been looking at is the Gigabyte GA-7N400-L
DUAL CHANNEL DDR 400, which by the sounds of it isn't a bad board at all.

http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard...GA-7N400-L.htm

I was also looking at the Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2
DUAL CHANNEL DDR 400, which is pretty much the same just a bit better...

http://www.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard...400%20Pro2.htm

Check out the links if it will help give you a better idea, anyways my question is both have dual channel DDR, from what I understand you'd need to a 2 sticks of the same RAM for a dual channel board, but can you just use 1 stick instead. For instance my current board is a Gigabyte 7DXR and I currently have 512 MB of DDR RAM (2 sticks of 256 MB DDR)...what I want to know is if I go with a "Dual channel DDR" motherboard will it cost me more to put in RAM or will it be the same as with my current board, I guess I"m not sure on what the dual channel is suppose to mean? Also any feedback on which board to pick would be greatly appreciated, the Pro 2 board is only like $30 more just so you'll know.

[Shawn711]

Basically, with a dual channel motherboard if you have 2 matching sticks of ram it will increase the bandwidth of the ram to the rest of the system. I am not sure just how much of an increase in bandwidth it actually gives, but if I am not mistaken, it isn't quite double the bandwidth. Hopefully, someone else can give more info on how much of an increase it actually is. You can use these boards with only one stick of ram, it just won't be utilizing the dual channel capability. So, really, no it isn't more expensive to put ram in them. Hope that helps.

Shawn

[cysus]

The way dual-channel works is by having two different sets of memory channels each with a set bandwidth, you install one memory stick in each channel. If the dual-channel is activated and works correctly it will interleave the data between the two sticks, since each memory channel has a dedicated bandwidth and a dimm is installed in each, the speed at which information is written or read is effectively doubled. Raid 0 works the same way only with hard drives.

[optinox]

So which board should I get...check out the links and let me know, the Pro 2 board is only like $30 more, so I'm just wondering is it worth to get that board for an exta $30 considering how it has a few extra stuff?

[rastorize]

You definately want dual channel...more theoretical bandwidth...

As for the 2 boards, the difference is that the GA-7N400 Pro2 has more integrated peripherals, including a RAID controller, Serial ATA, and Firewire:

Silicon Image sil3112A controller
GigaRAID ATA 133 RAID controller
Realtek 8110S Gigabit LAN controller
Realtek ALC650/655 Audio AC'97 Codec
TI IEEE 1394 controller

The Pro2 also offers 3 fan headers (as opposed to 2 for the other board) and a dual Bios.

IMO, for $30 more, I'd definately buy the GA-7N400 Pro2. You're getting quite a few extras for the money...