Gaming PC/Hobby PC dual-channel ddr3 x4 modules?

[TonyACG51]

I have some questions about the ddr3 dual channel and using 4 modules. I read this wiki saying that multi-channel memory architecture addresses two memory channels together (that helps memory speeds keep up with the cpu). And seeing that I can upgrade to 4 modules of dual channel memory architecture I was thinking. I could benefit for installing 4 modules. I will be using a Intel Core i7-2760QM Quad core CPU @ 2.4-3.5GHZ, Geforce GTX 560m 1.5GB @ 1080p, SSD with 120GB @ 285mb/s read and 275mb/s write and ??? DDR3 Dual-channel, two or 4 memory modules.

1) What I want to know is if I install 4 DDR3 memory modules instead of two (assume the same capacity with two or 4 @ 8GB) can I gain performance?

2) Will this help during gaming?

3) Will this help during 3D modeling with software like Blender or Mudbox?

4) Because it's 4 modules instead of 2 will CAS be the same across all 4?

5) Will I want to use lower speed for more modules?

6) Do I expect better performance from a high capacity memory?

 

[k1114]

Before I answer the questions, you have the i7 2760qm which is a mobile cpu but a 560 that is a desktop? Is this a all-in-one? Are you sure it has 4 dimms?

1. 2x4gb would be better than 4x2gb. There's not really a difference in performance but having open dimms allow future upgrade and better cooling.
2. Like I said in your other thread ram bit depth is irrelevant. But will want 64 bit to use more than 4gb ram.
3. Yes.
4. I'm confused on what "this" you are talking about. But every question topic, bit of the os or ram modules doesn't really matter in games for SB cpus.
5. Similar to 4, not exactly sure on "this" but doesn't matter in games.
6. It's supports 1066 and 1333, number of modules is irrelevant. I don't know what you have/need more info to know if you could overclock to 1600.
7. 8. 9. Software/games don't have a memory interface requirements as it really doesn't matter. You can run the newest games on ddr1 200 (but I doubt the cpu/gpu of that time period could handle it), and you can run ddr3 2133 on very old games.
10. Need more info to know if you could overclock but wouldn't need to overclock to fit a dmi.

I'm glad you did a lot of research but you dove into a lot of topics way over your basic understanding of computers; some which are pretty irrelevant to know.

 

[TonyACG51]

Mostly the point is that I want to play games on my laptop but most games run in 32 bit. 64 bit is so I can run 3D APIs and more memory is better and bit width not really important because its a 64 bit OS regardless. But having an OS that can be installed in both 64 and 32 bit sounds umm impossible. So I wanted to know if windows 7 64 bit will support 32 bit width memory architecture. If not the windows 7 pro has a 32/64 bit version, and will that package run the both 32 and 64 bit?

 

[TonyACG51]

Well I think I just want to know that installing 4 ram sticks is still beneficial to my gaming. Seem that the faster ddr3 in dual channel would be a big Fraps booster and more so with quad channel ddr3 running in dual channel.

 

[k1114]

The ram bus width has nothing to do with the os bit, the same way your gpu has a 192 bit bus width as they never directly interact. Even if you had 4 sticks, it's still dual channel, no change in bandwidth.

 

[zhihao50]

I haven't encountered a game that can't run in 64bit yet. Most 32bit program and games can run in a 64bit OS, they just can't take advantage of memory greater then 4GB, (they will only be assigned memory address in the 32bit range). So 64bit Win7 is the way to go if you want more then 4Gb memory. I often games on my laptop with 64bit Win7.

Article on Tomshardware seems to suggest there is no sentential benefit to faster ram, (performance gain of <5%). Intel sandybridge comes with dual channel controller so 4 sticks will works exactly like 2 sticks since it can't tell the difference.

But since you mentioned laptop there is a question of can your system support 4stick since most laptop only has room for 4GBX2.

 

[TonyACG51]

I haven't encountered a game that can't run in 64bit yet. Most 32bit program and games can run in a 64bit OS, they just can't take advantage of memory greater then 4GB, (they will only be assigned memory address in the 32bit range). So 64bit Win7 is the way to go if you want more then 4Gb memory. I often games on my laptop with 64bit Win7.

Article on Tomshardware seems to suggest there is no sentential benefit to faster ram, (performance gain of <5%). Intel sandybridge comes with dual channel controller so 4 sticks will works exactly like 2 sticks since it can't tell the difference.

But since you mentioned laptop there is a question of can your system support 4stick since most laptop only has room for 4GBX2.

Yes it supports 16GB 4x4gb memory @ 1066, 1333 and 1600mhz. The cpu runs 2.4-3.5ghz with the dmi @ 5gt/s and 25gb/s memory bandwidth. I was hoping that I could expect to use win 7 32 bit for gaming across 4 modules for faster performance.

 

[TonyACG51]

Ok so this link explains mxm 3.0b. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module It supports up to 256 bit memory width. I think that means I good with a windows 7 64 bit and 4 modules of ddr3 ram. 64 bit x 4 is 256 bits fully beneficial. Does that mean I'll only be able to take full advantage of 3 modules of ram? 64 bit x 3 is 192 and that's what the gpu is.

 

[k1114]

As said in you other thread, you are over thinking this, the bit makes no difference. You are going over your basic understanding of computers. What you are trying to figure out is like trying to say which car is faster, one with leds lights or one with halogens lights. Completely unrelated things.

2 ram stick or 4 ram sticks, like I said are both dual channel so there is no benefit in either performance wise. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/memory/2011/01/11/the-best-memory-for-sandy-bridge/11

5gt/s and 25gb/s are the max bandwidth, you will never actually get near those numbers.

 

[TonyACG51]

Do I get better bandwidth from 2 or 4 modules?

 

[TonyACG51]

What I want to know is that with new games have higher detail, so will have 8GB on 4 modules work better the 8GB on two modules? Or will 16GB on 4 modules work better then 8GB? I know that with a 64 bit cpu and dual channel memory that the memory controller has 64 bit memory bandwidth, but I don't know that using more modules is going to help speed things up. I think spreading the memory up over 4 modules would help, thats like taking 1600mhz and multiplying it twice. Then the question is that with lower CAS settings will it be easier for the CPU to do the task faster.

 

[k1114]

This is getting ridiculous, no. 64 bus width does not get multiplied by having more sticks. Picture this: data is being moved in 2 trucks at a time (ie dual channel) at 64 bits each truck load. Each stick would represent 1 dump site, 2 trucks (dual channel) have a choice of 4 places to dump (4 sticks), 2 places with 2 sticks. So your being limited by only having 2 trucks(dual channel) so 2 or 4 sticks is the same bandwidth.

Answers to the rest of your new questions: All sticks will be the same speed, latency, and voltage, if you buy sticks that are different, they will try to match each other or not work. Faster speed is better but as in the article I posted it makes very little difference, 2% from each step up. But price aside, faster mhz is always better, lower latency is always better, no matter how many sticks. You only get better performance if you're using all of the memory, 8gb is fine for any game (no game goes over 3gb yet) and is still enough for pretty large indie projects.

 

[TonyACG51]

Best answer selected by TonyACG51.