8-chip vs. 16-chip SDRAM?

[ablang]

I was at Fry's Electronics looking at PC133 128 MB SDRAM memory, and I noticed that there are both 8-chip and 16-chip variety, with of course, the latter being slightly more expensive.

Does anyone know what the difference is?

[Roy]

As parts density increases, fewer chips are needed to do the same job. I've seen sticks with only two chips onboard.

As a rule of thumb, fewer is better because the data paths are shorter and speeds can be faster. Costs are reduced as well.

If Fry's is asking more for the sticks with more chips, they're playing on the public's ignorance. I'm not surprised.