Memory Arrangment on an 8 slot mobo

[Jigglymuff]

I have an interesting question.

I was looking at a mobo with 8 mem slots, and i got to wondering what the best arrangement of memory is for a board like that, depending on how much is used. I know that your suppose to only use one set of memory,(mixing two sets doesn't often work) but they come in diff arrangements like getting four, 8GB cards for a total of 32GB or you can get 8, 4GB cards for the same total of 32GB. But which of these is a better option?

Also lets say you only use 16GB of total memory, so you won't be filling up all slots, is it better to get 2, 8GB sticks, or 4, 4GB sticks? or even filling all slots 8, 2gb sticks for 16GB total

And last question if you don't use every slot is that a problem? and which slots do you fill up first? do you have to fill them evenly?

Was just looking for some clarification on how memory should properly be installed, or if it really even matters as long as it fits your mobo.
looking forward to some answers thanks!

 

[Jigglymuff]

oh and if you do fill all 8 slots for 32GB total, is it better to use one ordered set of say 8x4GB sticks or would ordering two of the exact same 4x4GB sticks work too?

for instance

ordering this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231498

or ordering 2 of these
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231429

or does it even matter? perhaps rookie questions i just want to make sure i KNOW the right answers thanks!

 

[Elwenil]

If you go to the motherboard manufacturer's website you can download the manual for the MB you are looking at and they will usually define the RAM arrangement and what RAM works in their QVL list.

It should be noted that most people believe that anything over 8GB of RAM is a waste of money and way overkill for gaming and is probably only needed for high end graphic and video editing.

 

[Jigglymuff]

It should be noted that most people believe that anything over 8GB of RAM is a waste of money and way overkill for gaming and is probably only needed for high end graphic and video editing.

oh of course, im just curious how it works exactly though

 

[geekapproved]

Depends on what mystery board your talking about.

If it's a quad channel chipset then you need 4 or 8 sticks. If it's a triple channel chipset you need 3 or 6 sticks and if it's a dual channel chipset you need 2 or 4 sticks.

Nobody could possibly answer your question without know what motherboard your talking about.

Either way, the manual will explain the best configuration.