Question about RAM

[Strangerz]

Just a quick question:

In General do 4gb sticks perform better, worse, or the same as 8gb sticks?

I guess what im trying to ask:

Would it be better to use 4 DIMMs over 2 DIMMS? Does dual channel only support two DIMMs or would it have 2 DIMMs in each channel?

So in a 16Gb scenario, would 2 8Gb sticks perform differently then 4 4Gb sticks?

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Assuming?

If you don't overclock, then performance is a constant (MHz, timings, type). If you're talking a constant price, then 4GB will beat out 8GB, because of the extra capacity price premium.


In short, pay attention to settings. Smaller timings, and higher frequencies, cost more. If you're overclocking, then go with the 4GB. Overclocking with 4GB is generally easier because they have less dense circuitry. This is, of course, only a generalization and can be proven wrong rather easily with cheap 4GB sticks.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

Ok, that's a slightly more direct question. There are two scenarios.

1) Standard user.
The preference will be for 4 4GB sticks. This preference is based off of lower costs, and higher rated performances for 4GB sticks (lower timings and higher frequencies). 16 GB is really all most standard users will ever need, so greater performance is favored over future expansion.

2) Overclocking/performance user.
2 8GB sticks are a preference here. The slightly poorer performance can be counteracted by overclocking. Future expansion to 32GB of RAM, and easier matching with only 2 8GB sticks, counteracts the huge hit to the wallet that these things are going to be.



So the question back is power user, or standard user? If this is a PC for gaming/working then get 4 sticks. If it's required for heavy rendering or you'll get the upgrade itch soon then go for the 8GB sticks.

 

[H 3 L L S M A N]

Just a quick question:

In General do 4gb sticks perform better, worse, or the same as 8gb sticks?

I guess what im trying to ask:

Would it be better to use 4 DIMMs over 2 DIMMS? Does dual channel only support two DIMMs or would it have 2 DIMMs in each channel?

So in a 16Gb scenario, would 2 8Gb sticks perform differently then 4 4Gb sticks?

If you are going for performance only use the DIMMs that are high lighted on the board, i.e dual channle only use 2 sticks, quad only use 4 sticks. Why because using anymore causes stress on the Mem controller and will limit pereformance in terms of speed and latancey.

Unless you are making Ram drives or carless as to never closing application when you are done with them, There is honsetly not need for more that 8Gb, on X79 you can get away with 16Gb but that is extreme overkill, it is currently what I am running and I do not know what I will do with all the extra RAM.

 

[Strangerz]

I would be going the power user route, i plan to be rendering and running virtual machines.

So the actual setup im looking at is x79 chipset and if i want to go to 32Gb RAM im wondering if it would be best to fill all 8 DIMMS rather then 4. I guess im looking at this from more of a performance standpoint then price and whether the machine would benefit from having all DIMMs populated.

 

[Strangerz]

If you are going for performance only use the DIMMs that are high lighted on the board, i.e dual channle only use 2 sticks, quad only use 4 sticks. Why because using anymore causes stress on the Mem controller and will limit pereformance in terms of speed and latancey.

Unless you are making Ram drives or carless as to never closing application when you are done with them, There is honsetly not need for more that 8Gb, on X79 you can get away with 16Gb but that is extreme overkill, it is currently what I am running and I do not know what I will do with all the extra RAM.

What type of applications are you running? ive been wondering if i should just go with 16Gb but then its 4x4GB and if i want to upgrade i would want 4x8GB from your above statement.

I thought it used only the highlighted ones but i wasn't sure if that was just when all DIMMs werent filled.

 

[H 3 L L S M A N]

What type of applications are you running? ive been wondering if i should just go with 16Gb but then its 4x4GB and if i want to upgrade i would want 4x8GB from your above statement.

I thought it used only the highlighted ones but i wasn't sure if that was just when all DIMMs werent filled.

If you are going power user route then I suggest going with this kit from GeIL this kit has huge amount of ram for rendering and high speed and low timings and its @ $289.99 USD.

There is a cheaper option @ $189.99 from G.Skill still 32Gb and may only result in a few seconds difference in rendering times. It all depends on your budget and how high you want to go.

As for the 8Gb DIMMs the 8Gb puts the same stress as Two 4Gb DIMMs. The only reason for having 8Gb DIMMs is to have quantity for Rendering, and 64 Gb will give for better performance for major power users who have designs that could take advantage of that or mass renderings.

As for what application I am using, I encode videos/music and play cutting edge video games. I sacrifice quantity for speed for the best Read and writes/performance.

 

[Yo_Wattup]

Keep in mind the more ram you get, the faster your system will be, Thanks to Intels superfetching, or whatever its called....