Well fuck me, I found a nice wikipedia page that answered my questions. If only I could have found that page before I made the post. I really did look around first, I promise!
To be honest, I think if you want to squeeze as much out of your RAM as you possibly can you should go with pairing and with the same manufacturer.
But, in your situation, where you have two 512s paired, I'd just get the gig stick for another slot. Once you decide whether or not you want to upgrade again to three gigs you'll know where to put your next 1 gig stick and then you'll have dual channeling between the 512s and between the 1 gigs (I believe this is how it works but I may have failed to grasp the concept entirely).
One way or the other it's going to be less of a headache when you want to upgrade and have to decide what to do with two extra sticks of RAM that you suddenly don't need. Sure you can try to sell them but chances are you paid more for the two 512's in the first place in addition to the cost of the 1gig stick you're using in the next upgrade.
As far as what will and what won't work; just get what is compatible as far as speed and type. I mean, unless it's RIMM or something then chances are that you won't have any problems with generic RAM.
To be honest, I think if you want to squeeze as much out of your RAM as you possibly can you should go with pairing and with the same manufacturer.
Yeah, this is what I eventually decided on. I just ended up grabbing a 1GB stick, because I figure I don't really need the speed bump from dual channeling right now (I don't do anything crazy on this machine, just MATLAB and PSPice and such while running some other shit in the background), and it leaves me space to bump to 3GB in the future if I decide I need it.
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But, in your situation, where you have two 512s paired, I'd just get the gig stick for another slot. Once you decide whether or not you want to upgrade again to three gigs you'll know where to put your next 1 gig stick and then you'll have dual channeling between the 512s and between the 1 gigs (I believe this is how it works but I may have failed to grasp the concept entirely).
One way or the other it's going to be less of a headache when you want to upgrade and have to decide what to do with two extra sticks of RAM that you suddenly don't need. Sure you can try to sell them but chances are you paid more for the two 512's in the first place in addition to the cost of the 1gig stick you're using in the next upgrade.
As far as what will and what won't work; just get what is compatible as far as speed and type. I mean, unless it's RIMM or something then chances are that you won't have any problems with generic RAM.
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!
Yeah, this is what I eventually decided on. I just ended up grabbing a 1GB stick, because I figure I don't really need the speed bump from dual channeling right now (I don't do anything crazy on this machine, just MATLAB and PSPice and such while running some other shit in the background), and it leaves me space to bump to 3GB in the future if I decide I need it.
Thanks for the advice, though!
Ryan M Long Photography
Buy my Prints!