[SOLVED] 2x8 or 4x8 Sticks

[Morford]

My Current setup

I am in the process of building this PC. What would be the difference between 2 and 4 sticks? How noticeable will it be?

 

[jojesa]

Ryzen works best with 2 sticks. So for a smooth setup I will go with 2 RAM sticks.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For anything 2666mhz or higher on dual channel architectures, you are better off running two sticks versus four for several reasons.

For one, two sticks presents less of a strain on the CPU/memory controller and motherboard. And for another, running four DIMMs may in some cases limit speed at which you are able to get the memory to run. So, for example, while you might be able to get two sticks to run at 3200mhz, four sticks, depending on the motherboard and the particular memory kit, COULD see a lower speed limitation.

If you don't have to run four DIMMs to achieve the full capacity you are trying to run, on any dual channel motherboard, it is best to not do do so when running high speed DIMMs. If you need to, fine, worst case you may have to reduce the speed somewhat, but when possible two is usually the better option.

 

[Third-Eye]

Ryzen 2000 generally can't run most memory faster than 3466MT/s with 2x8GB. If you don't actually need 32GB, 2x8GB will get you the fastest speeds assuming you buy high quality Samsung B-die. Running 4x4GB/8GB can get you higher fps in some games, but you are usually limited to 3000MT/s max. Some people are able to get 4x8GB 3200MT/s CL14 stable, but may be it's down to a silicon lottery at that point. I very nearly got my own two 2x8GB kits stable at 3200 CL14 with a Ryzen 5 2600, but still had a very low amount of errors that seemingly no amount of tweaking could fix, so I gave up and settled on 3000 CL14 because I needed a stable system.