Is upgrading from 2 sticks or 1 better?

[liamprice00]

I’m looking to buy an entirely new system and I have a question about ram. I want to eventually have 16gb total- would it be better to buy 2x4gb sticks or 1x8gb stick to upgrade later? I’m more worried about performance between initial purchase and reaching 16gb (as well as dual channel vs quad channel) than upgrade potential after I reach 16gb.

 

[zoltan.boese]

It is recommended to have two slots accommodated: briefly
Dual Channel provides a 10-15% performance boost.

 

[SkyNetRising]

If you plan to upgrade to 16GB eventually, but can get 8GB initially, then 1x8GB is better.
2x4GB modules would have better performance in the beginning, but after you upgrade to 4x4GB, you' ll loose performance because of increased command rate settings.

Just make sure you can get identical second module later.