DDR2 RAM vs. DDR2 Dual Channel
When choosing computer hardware, you will be confronted with a plethora of vague acronyms describing important parts of hardware. Two of these acronyms are DDR2 and DDR2 Dual Channel in reference to random access memory (RAM).
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Double Data Rate
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DDR stands for "double data rate." Before there was DDR RAM, data could only be transferred once per central processing unit (CPU) clock cycle. DDR RAM can transfer data twice per clock cycle, which doubles the rate at which data may be transferred.
DDR2 Data Rate
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DDR2 RAM gives a maximum transfer rate of up to 3,200 megabytes per second.
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Dual Channel
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Dual Channel RAM refers to RAM that uses two data channels rather than one. In theory, this doubles the rate at which data can be transferred from the RAM to the CPU.
Motherboard Requirements
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Dual Channel RAM requires a motherboard that is made for it. If there are not two channels to the RAM sockets, then memory can only be accessed in a single channel fashion.
Memory Requirements
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Dual Channel RAM requires that each RAM chip be paired with an equivalent RAM chip. These chips are not required to be the exact same, but using mismatched chips can hurt performance.
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References
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