Dual vs. triple channel DDR3-1600

[jzzcutler]

I've read in the forums that it is the mobo and not the memory that determines dual vs. triple channel. Why then do all the memory vendors (G.Skill, Kingston, Crucial, OCZ) label their DDR3-1600 memory packages as dual-channel or triple-channel? (Sorry for the nervous newbie question.)

On latency, would a DDR3-1333 with latency 6-6-6-20 be faster than DDR3-1600 8--8-28? After all, in comparing the tRAS cycles divided by the cycles per second we see that 20/1333 is less than 28/1600. This question is probably dumb but it's worth $100 so I thought I'd ask.

 

[belial2k]

Dual and Triple channel DDR3 are the same memory, just different packaging to match the available channels in you MB. There is very little difference between 1600 and 1333 running at the same timings, so if you can find 1333 with tighter timings it will outperform the 1600. The reason so many people recommend the 1600mhz ram is for overclocking purposes. It gives you a little extra headroom depending on the MB and processor setup you are using, and can give you a few extra mhz on the cpu when overclocking using the bclk.