What is dual-channel memory, and how would it benefit me?

One of the potentional perfomace bottlenecks in Pc is how data can be shuttled back and forth between your processor and your computer's RAM. This speed is determined by the memory controller. In older PCs, most memory controllers were single channel. As processors got faster, however, this single channel was unable to feed data from the RAM to the processor fast enough, often leaving the processor with nothing to do. This meant that even a computer with a fast processor could appear sluggish. This problem was solved by adding a second channel and equipping memory controllers to deal with it, Dual-channel memory means that there are two parallel channels transferring data between the processor and the RAM simultaneously. Memory slots on your motherboard are devoted to a specific channel. A typical motherboard has four memory slots: two for each memory channel. To use both channels, you need to have memory installed in both channels. Your PC will need two memory sticks, with one ...  more