I need help with my RAM configuration!

[chibamarco]

The title says it all.

Dual Channel 8GB DDR4 2666Mhz
Or
Single Channel 8GB DDR4 3000Mhz ?

I will be using an Ryzen 5 1600X.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You don't buy "dual or single channel" memory. Memory is always dual, triple or quad channel if there are enough modules installed to support it, if they are compatible with each other and if the board and CPU supports it, which practically all platforms do these days.

About the only way it WON'T be dual channel, is if you install only one module OR you use two or four modules that did not come in a matched set that was verified to be compatible with each other and refuses to run in a multi channel configuration.

That being said, I get that you mean should you buy one module or two. You should ALWAYS buy in matched sets that equal the full amount of memory you EVER intend to run in the machine. So in this case, even though there is a small drop in frequency, I think the fact that memory frequency is already ridiculously fast, and buying the matched set will effectively double the bandwidth, cements the fact that it's almost always better to go with two modules that equal the amount of memory you intend to run than just one, even if the cost is slightly higher.

Also, if you plan to have 16GB at some point, I'd rethink your strategy and figure out a way to buy it all now, in a single 2 x8GB kit, because later on there will be no gurantees, zero, zip, nada, zilch, that any memory you buy later on will be either the same, even if the part numbers are identical, or will play nice enough together to run in dual channel, or at all in some cases.

 

[electro_neanderthal]

That generation of Ryzen prefers the higher clock speed, but I'd put it this way: If you don't want to add RAM within the next two years go with the dual channel kit. If you plan to add another 8GB stick of RAM in the next year or two, go with the higher clock speed and remember to add the same make and model of RAM to minimize chances of incompatibility when you do add more.

That's how I look at it.

Edit: Just need to point out that I have mixed and matched RAM to a relatively high degree of success, BUT that is no guarantee that buying a second identical stick down the road will work. Aiming to buy the full amount of RAM you intend to have first is the safest idea.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Even buying the same part number later, the EXACT same part number, even a week later, is no guarantee that you will get the same module OR that they will be friendly with each other. Here's just ONE example of this, on the single part number I chose to investigate this on. You can be sure that this applies to a wide array of modules and part numbers.

Manufacturers will assemble with a given set of components one week, then run out of stock and begin using an entirely different configuration the next week, but keep the part numbers exactly the same. The timings will often be the same, as will voltage and speed specifications, but more often than not they will not run together because they are simply too different. Or they will run together, but not in dual channel. Or the part number will be the same, but the timings and other specifications WILL be different, because the characteristics of the memory have changed too much to allow them to run at the same specifications that they did with the previous production run using different components to build the modules.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3610013/amd-ram-compatibility.html#20562100