[SOLVED] 32 GB - 2 Sticks of DDR4 or 4?

[Rick_S]

Hello, I just got the Ryzen 5 3600 last month. I want to upgrade my memory from 16 GB to 32 GB. I have a ROG B450-F MB, with the latest bios updates. For an average game player, does it make a difference if I use 2 sticks or 4? I have the latest info from ASUS on the memory that works on it, but I am also looking at User Benchmark and PCpartpicker for successful results. Any help is appreciated, since 2x16GB sets are less expensive than 4x8GB sets, across the board.

 

[Alatrix]

Hello, I just got the Ryzen 5 3600 last month. I want to upgrade my memory from 16 GB to 32 GB. I have a ROG B450-F MB, with the latest bios updates. For an average game player, does it make a difference if I use 2 sticks or 4? I have the latest info from ASUS on the memory that works on it, but I am also looking at User Benchmark and PCpartpicker for successful results. Any help is appreciated, since 2x16GB sets are less expensive than 4x8GB sets, across the board.

2x16gb are more upgradeable in the future since you leave 2 slots free, with 4 sticks you probably wouldn't be able to run quad-channel and even if you would, the performance improvement would be minimal.
With this said, just go for 2x16 and keep the extra money

 

[sizzling]

2x16gb are more upgradeable in the future since you leave 2 slots free, with 4 sticks you probably wouldn't be able to run quad-channel and even if you would, the performance improvement would be minimal.
With this said, just go for 2x16 and keep the extra money

Mixing RAM kits is not recommended so the spare 2 slots doesn’t really help. RAM upgrades are best to remove existing kit (sell if you want) and buy a new matched kit. This platform does not support quad channel, quad channel and using 4 dimms are not the same thing.

Running 4 dimms puts extra load on the memory controller and it can be harder to get the RAM stable especially at higher speeds. For this reason it is recommended to use 2 dimms where possible.

Have a read of this https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/

 

[Math Geek]

using all 4 slots also usually limits the speed the ram can be. higher speed ram in all 4 slots is a headache waiting to happen from my experience. using 2 sticks is just better all around.

i have 2 x 16 gb with my 3700x and no issues at 3200 speed.

 

[sizzling]

using all 4 slots also usually limits the speed the ram can be. higher speed ram in all 4 slots is a headache waiting to happen from my experience. using 2 sticks is just better all around.

i have 2 x 16 gb with my 3700x and no issues at 3200 speed.

Same here, my 2x16gb and 3700x managed to OC to 3733mhz from 3200mhz but I have since put it to 3600mhz to take a little voltage off but it seemed happy at 3733mhz.

 

[Math Geek]

i have not tried to oc past the rated speed. i thought about it but never got around to it. what voltage are you using to get to 3600 vs 3200?

 

[Rick_S]

Mixing RAM kits is not recommended so the spare 2 slots doesn’t really help. RAM upgrades are best to remove existing kit (sell if you want) and buy a new matched kit. This platform does not support quad channel, quad channel and using 4 dimms are not the same thing.

Running 4 dimms puts extra load on the memory controller and it can be harder to get the RAM stable especially at higher speeds. For this reason it is recommended to use 2 dimms where possible.

Have a read of this https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I would be mixing RAM. I am not going to do that. Thanks for the ovservatios, though, The latest sheet from ASUS does give some 4 slot options as acceptable, though.

 

[sizzling]

I'm sorry if I gave the impression that I would be mixing RAM. I am not going to do that. Thanks for the ovservatios, though, The latest sheet from ASUS does give some 4 slot options as acceptable, though.

Yes they will have 4 slot options on the QVL list but usually they max out at a lower speed and you might run into trouble trying to achieve rated speed.

Edit: the point about mixing RAM was more for Alatrix.

 

[cryoburner]

For an average game player, does it make a difference if I use 2 sticks or 4?

For an average game player, you probably won't see any real benefit from upgrading to 32GB at this time. Today's games don't even utilize a full 16GB, and any additional RAM will just be sitting there, not doing anything. It's likely that we will see games benefiting from access to additional RAM in the future, but that might not be for a couple years or more, by which point it's likely that the upgrade may cost less. If you are multitasking with web browsers and such open while gaming, or doing other non-gaming tasks that can utilize the extra RAM, then it could be a worthwhile upgrade, but you might want to monitor your RAM use and see whether you are actually topping out your existing 16GB before picking more up. It's possible there might be better things you could spend money on for your system in the mean time, that might show more immediate performance benefits. A possible exception might be if there was particularly slow RAM in your system that was holding back performance though, that you were planing on replacing anyway.