Help me 2Rank my RAM choices

May 1, 2006 10:25 AM

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using 2Rank DIMMS as opposed to standard DIMMs?

I'm pricing out an HP server for work and I have multiple options for adding 4GB or PC-3200 DIMMS. I can go with
(a) 4x1024
(b) 2x2GB 2Rank DIMMs -- for $130 more than (a)
(c) 2x2GB -- for $1050 more than (b)

Obviously, the price and slots used (out of 6 available) ratio favors (b), but I'd like to know if there's some hidden reason why it's so much cheaper than (c) -- or why (c) is so much more expensive. Wikipedia's DIMM article doesn't give me much useful info on the subject.

(I know I can get memory cheaper from 3rd parties, so no need to mention that.)

posted by pmbuko to technology (2 comments total)

(answering my own question?)
This link explains multiple ranking. I can't see any reason to rule it out unless it significantly increases latency.
posted by pmbuko at 11:23 AM on May 1, 2006

One other thing to consider for server applications is whether you'll be going for ECC memory, or non-ECC. Your choice may also depend on what operating systems and applications you'll be using, since if you are sticking to some Windows variant that observes the 4 GB memory space limit, your plans for adding additional memory later may not mean much, unless you also plan on moving up to 64 bit.
posted by paulsc at 3:13 PM on May 1, 2006