RAM Confusion

[jawsap62]

Let me start by appologising if this question has been answered else where, but i could not find a straight answer (if there is one)

I have just built a new computer and installed 4 Gb of DDR2 dual RAM, i am a bit confused by the forum if i have done the right or wrong thing here.
Would i be better off removing 2 Gb or will the computer work OK with them in.

If trial and error is the best plan thats what i will do, dont know how 3 Gb will go with the mother board havent tried yet.

Here are the basic specs of my new DAW.

Motherboard - Gigabyte
Processor - 2.4 Quad core (Intel)
RAM - 4Gb kingston (1Gb sticks)
HDD - 2 x Western digital 250Gb (7,500 rpm) currently set up RAID 0
VGA - 512 Dual VGA display graphics card

Interface - Alesis Multimix 8 Firewire.

Software - XP and Cubase SX3

OK, i am thinking about deleting the RAID array and just using my 2 HDD drives for O/S and files.

All in all my set up works great compared to the old rig (Celeron 2.4 single core) but WILL it make a substancial difference if i reduce my RAM.

Thanks in advance if any one can help.

[MetalDave]

If you have a dual channel Motherboard, The RAM should be better to run 4 gig. If you don't have dual channel capabilities, you will probably want to get new RAM. You also want to make sure all your sticks are identical. You will also want to make sure the manufacturer of the Motherboad says there is no conflicts between the RAM you have installed and the Motherboard you have. Other than all that, 4 gb should always be better than 2 gb.

[jawsap62]

Cheers MetalDave, Thanks for the reply.

Yes the motherboard accepts dual RAM, there is no conflict and all my RAM sticks are identical.

Sound like all is cool, the new machine is a demon just wanted to know if i could make it a demon possessed.

Thanks again for you input.

[SomeAudioGuy]

The only problem with 4GB of RAM, is that it wont all be recognized by a 32 bit Ooperating system (WinXP and most flavors of Vista. Most likely you'll be stuck around 3.5GB actually usable.

If you step up to a 64 bit operating system, you more than likely wont find good stable drivers for recording equipment.

There shouldn't be any problems with the setup (like stability). It just kinda sucks that there's no good solution for this problem yet...

[brandondrury]

I have just built a new computer and installed 4 Gb of DDR2 dual RAM, i am a bit confused by the forum if i have done the right or wrong thing here.

If you aren't experiencing problems, use all of it.

OK, i am thinking about deleting the RAID array and just using my 2 HDD drives for O/S and files.

If it were me, I'd go with the 2 hard drive rig.

Brandon

[jawsap62]

Cheers guys,
Thanks for the replies and info, yes my set up is going well and i have deleted the RAID array and gone to the 2 hard drives as seperate, seems to be working a bit quicker (hard to tell really).
Getting close to having some tracks ready to be bashed, the ones i did on my old system arnt up to scratch.

Hope people have open minds to different tastes however, my music these days is pretty laid back i have hung up the rock tag of the 80's.

I played as a guitarist in the 80's playing Australian Rock (which i still love and play on occasion with a few mates) and i also play and tutor snare drum in a pipe band (pretty good band as well), my recordings however are acoustic guitar with some Harp and percussion with a few VST instruments thrown in.

Sorry for raving on everyone, thanks again for the help.

[uab9253]

From what I recall about how RAID works, if you need to write large amounts of data very vast that is not the way to go. Sounds like you have it under control.

[Ibanez_shredder]

I personally would go with the 2 HDD's just cause of the file storage convience, depending on the way you've routed your IDE cables you can further optimize the speed factor. looking forward to hearing some of your materials