[SOLVED] 4 Sticks on a Dual Channel Board?

[julienruc]

Hi Guys,

I have currently have 16Gb (2x8Gb Trident Z RGB 3200Mhz) of RAM on my B450-F Strix.

I'm not very savvy when it comes to Memory, but I need to upgrade to 32Gb for my work and I'm planning on buying the exact samr 2x8Gb kit.

I'm worried about this whole Dual Channel thing as I've heard there can be issues with using 4 sticks on a Dual Channel motherboard. I've heard it can often cause issues where you end up not using the sticks to its full potential.

My board has 4 slots, will I be running 4 sticks at Dual Channel? I'm not sure how this works... Can anyone get technical about this?

Appreciate it in advance.

Thanks.

 

[scout_03]

from board user manual page 1-5 the a 2 and b 2 slots are channel a the the a 1 and b 1 are channel b that how they sould be set to work as dual channel and get similar that you already have .

 

[velocityg4]

Yes it will, hopefully.

Even if they are the same kit. Trident is a third party manufacturer. Someone else builds it for them. While the specs remain the same. They may be made by a different manufacturer, factory and/or contain different components. All of which can mean the RAM may not work at the current speed and default to a lower common speed or be incompatible. If a lower speed you may be able to manually tweak timings.

Also if they are fully compatible and work at full speed. Four modules in dual channel aren't quite as fast as two modules in dual channel.

 

[PC Tailor]

I'm worried about this whole Dual Channel thing as I've heard there can be issues with using 4 sticks on a Dual Channel motherboard. I've heard it can often cause issues where you end up not using the sticks to its full potential.

This is because you'll be having 2 modules in 1 channel. If you see each channel as a lane of traffic, and the RAM releasing the traffic.
When you have 2 modules in dual channel, each RAM module has it's own lane of traffic.
When you have 4 modules in dual channel, you have 4 RAM modules sharing only 2 lanes of traffic to the CPU.

So in some scenarios this can degrade performance as opposed to 2x16GB.

Just remember mixed RAM modules are not guaranteed compatibility - even if you buy the exact same model RAM, as whilst they are the same by name, they might not be the same by composition, as the manufacturing process changes frequently and is also very delicate. It's why it's best practice to always buy a new set of RAM whenever you upgrade RAM. As there is a possibility, the new modules will not work with the old.

 

[julienruc]

Thank you so much for the clarification everyone. I appreciate it.

So I understand clearly that 2x16Gb will be much better than 4x8Gb. However, if we assume the extra pair of 2x8Gb I add on will perfectly match with the old ones; Will speed still be affected?

Or if I buy a 4x8Gb kit (because that RGB look good)?

Also, if let's say I buy a Quad-Channel motherboard. Would it still be a bad idea to add an extra 2x8Gb in your opinion because there's a chance they might be incompatible?

 

[Third-Eye]

Thank you so much for the clarification everyone. I appreciate it.

So I understand clearly that 2x16Gb will be much better than 4x8Gb. However, if we assume the extra pair of 2x8Gb I add on will perfectly match with the old ones; Will speed still be affected?

Or if I buy a 4x8Gb kit (because that RGB look good)?

Also, if let's say I buy a Quad-Channel motherboard. Would it still be a bad idea to add an extra 2x8Gb in your opinion because there's a chance they might be incompatible?

You would be better off getting a 2x16GB kit if you need 32GB, but also want 3200-3600Mhz because you will have issues getting even a 3200Mhz kit in a 4x8GB configuration to work at anything more than 2933/3000Mhz.

 

[julienruc]

I see. Well that's rather disappointing to hear. Thanks for the info