Co BIY :
This same memory is available as a 4x4GB kit for the same price on the same Newegg link. Would the memory work better in four ranks?
Why wouldn't that be the best plan. Since most enthusiast boards can take 4 dimms.
Four ranks does have better performance, but limits your upgrade options.If you'd like four ranks, your best option would be two 16GB sticks.
n0ns3ns3 :
^^ why would anyone sane put 4x4GB in a new computer ? more sticks = more stress on memory controller, lower frequency/higher timings.
as for this kit, CL16 is a bit too much for my taste for 3200 single rank 2x8GB kit.
Four ranks offer improved bandwidth and outperform two ranks in our charts, even when the timings are slightly worse. I think it's because a transfer on one rank can be initiated while the other rank is finishing a transition (such as read-to-write).
3200 C16 is our current performance-memory baseline. We just did a set of 3600 C19 and mentioned that we'd have preferred it to have been C18 or less.