[jannier]

Hi Guys

I want to verify and check with those using Nforce2 MB and have run Sisoft .

Running the memory bandwidth benchmark 1 of the results onder Chipset1 saying "width" 64bit now my question, is this width indicating the memory controller bandwith meaning single channel mode = 64 bit and dual channel = 128 bit.
or is this relating to the AGP bandwidth.

Is there a way to see in Sisoft if you are using single channel 64bit or dual channel 128bit mode

I have run test in both single and dual ddr mode but don't see any difference in Sisoft.

My setup
Jetway Kocab 18P SPP
Bios Rev A4
Kingston Value Ram PC2700 at 7-2-2-2
CPU Agressive Mode
FSB 178
DRAM 178 at 100%
AMD TB 2600+ at 2700+ 13.0 Ratio 2.32Ghz
core volts 1.8v


Am I to see a big difference in Sisoft running tests in Single and Dual DDR mode??

Thanks
Jannie

[Vampyromaniac]

Originally posted by jannier
Am I to see a big difference in Sisoft running tests in Single and Dual DDR mode??

The short answer: No.

[The_Neon_Cowboy]

depend on what you doing.... and how you system is set up... usally yes much faster.. i base my opintion on fact and have been told the nforce2 offers no advantage.... users proubly running VIA kt400/kt400a chipsets or are not useing the right or idetical ram ... and ram that HAS BEEN OPTUMIZED with specailly programed spd's so the timeings RUN ON DUEL CHANNEL BOARDS usally come in sets... if you buy crap you get crap .... benchmark wise its har to say... the whole pont of Deul channel is to increse bandwith but more imposrtanly lower the latency (or wait states) with increse how fast your ram can be read




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"There are, however, several cons that might speak against dual-channel systems. The first and possibly most practice-related is the fact that you need two identical memory modules. And that's not all: if possible, you should even use identical DIMMs in order to avoid trouble. This has been a reason for systems based on the SiS655 chipset being handicapped: if the two modules aren't identical, the system might run considerably slower. "


As with the nForce, the memory interface of the nForce2 is twice as important. For one thing, the dual memory controller enables the bandwidth to double, because the interface can work with 128-bit instead of 64-bit. This means up to 6.4 GB/s with dual DDR400, 5.4 GB/s with DDR333 and 4.2 GB/s with DDR266. These are values that make the 3.2 GB/s of dual PC800 RDRAM seem quite low. Another aspect is that the graphics unit of the nForce2 IGP doesn't have its own memory, so it always has to use a portion from the main memory. Today, AGP graphics cards have between 32 and 128 MB of dedicated memory, which usually works at much higher speeds than the system memory; so, systems with integrated graphics are almost always slower than those with separate AGP graphics cards. However, NVIDIA might not be able to solve all problems of shared memory, but, with the use of dual DDR400, it offers a solution thatpromises to perform even better than the GeForce4 MX420.


It cannot be said that the bus width is simply doubled, because, as a matter of fact, both of the memory controllers cooperate in an intelligent manner. The goal is to minimize the latency (waiting cycles that occur when accessing SDRAM) through alternating use of a second memory controller. Also, StreamThru access (realtime data transfer, see details below) gets the highest priority. For example, while the first controller prepares for memory access, the read process can occur through the second controller at the same time. Theoretically, this would lead to a reduction of the latency by one half.

Moreover, NVIDIA gives the memory controllers various algorithems in order to predict and optimize memory access. This feature is called DASP (Dynamic Adaptive Speculative Preprocessor), which, according to the datasheet, has been significantly improved compared to the first nForce chipset. "
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exerpt from www.tomshardware.com