2x 8GB speed, real or imaginary?

[cespencer]

I tried 2x 4GB and it seems OK
I tried 1x 8GB and it seems OK
I tried 2x 8GB and it seems faster

I never go over 4-6 GB of ram normally. I don't do video editing or play games. I use it for work and sometimes move fast between programs e.g. outlook, websites and multiple word and pdf documents open, cut and paste, etc.

Is the speed of 2x 8GB real or imaginary?

 

[CountMike]

If they are all running at same frequency with same settings for CAS Latency, it's not imaginary if it's running in dual channel mode. Given same frequency and Cl as 1 x 8GB, 2 x 4 should be faster in dual channel mode. With more RAM than absolutely necessary, less or none is swapped to disk so it may feel even faster.