Basic RAM question

[boomer34]

I have a basic RAM question...

I am looking at buying a PC that comes with 12GB of RAM. It says it is 6x2GB 1333MHz Dual Ranked UDIMMs.

It is in a Dell Workstation T3500...

Is having 12GB of RAM the exact same if it comes 6x2GB or 3x4GB?

Is there any performance boosts getting to the 12GB total by going either way?

Also, I'm not too sure what the "Dual Ranked UDIMMs" mean...

I had been looking at buying one of these workstations with the lowest memory possible and then buying a 12GB pack from Newegg, but this one comes pre-configured with this setup...

 

[jaquith]

The Dell uses the Intel® Xeon® W3XXX LGA 1366 processors which is Tri Channel, so either 3x_GB or 6_GB sets of either ECC (UDIMM Unbuffered) or non-ECC.

The 3x4GB is the better option for a couple reasons: 1. Upgradability 6x4GB, 2. Fractionally faster by not loading-up the channels with 2 DIMM/Channel (tiny fraction).

 

[boomer34]

Best answer selected by boomer34.