I stick of ram

[Griefinsteven]

I have 1 stick of 8gb ram will that still work? Or do I need two sticks of ram?

 

[alvine]

1 stick will work but you will not be using the most out of your processor as they have either dual or quad channel memory controllers

 

[Griefinsteven]

Best answer selected by GriefinSteven.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

It actually depends on your hardware. Some motherboards have problems with 8GB sticks. But assuming your hardware will handle it, Alvine is correct in that you will lose the advantage of dual channel and 1 stick will be around 5% slower than running 2 matched sticks.

 

[Griefinsteven]

The motherboard I got is ASRock 970 extreme3 Am3+

 

[Deleted member 217926]

There are 8GB sticks on the QVL so you are probably fine. Make sure you have the latest BIOS for maximum compatibility.

http://www.asrock.com/MB/overview.asp?cat=Memory&Model=970 Extreme3

 

[Griefinsteven]

So with my Motherboard, and the one stick of ram. Everything is going to fine, nothing is going to be slower than what it would be with 2 sticks of ram?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Yeah you will lose the advantage of dual channel. That will mean a ~5% performance hit. It should run fine with an 8GB stick though. Some boards don't do well with 8GB sticks. A 2 x 4GB kit is your best option though.

 

[Griefinsteven]

Is 5% notice-able?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Probably not but 2 x 4GB kits are generally cheaper than single 8GB sticks and 4GB sticks are generally timed lower ( faster ) as well and why would you lose 5% in performance you don't have to lose? So there is no real reason to buy a single 8GB stick. If you later wanted to add another 8GB it can be hard to get mismatched 8GB sticks to work with each other too.

$42

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

$46 if your stuck on Corsair for some reason. The GSkill is just as good and cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Either kit will fit under an aftermarket cooler.

 

[Griefinsteven]

i ment to buy 2 x 4gb kit but i acendently bought just 1 x 8gb

 

[Deleted member 217926]

As long as it works I would just keep it. Too much trouble to send it back.

 

[Griefinsteven]

Thats what i was thinking and I might buy 2-4gb ram in the future.