Mixing of Dual and Single Channel: Is it Possible to Use Dual/Single Channels for the Use of 3/4 Slots on my MOBO **READ**

[Daimyyyyoooo]

Okay, so I'm building my first PC...I am going to be recording games like CS:GO, GTA IV, GTA V, and Arma, but I'm also going to use this to record and stream on my console. I will be doing lots of editing and would enjoy fast rendering times, but that isn't really mandatory. I design in Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D, and Adobe Illustrator, A LOT. Some of the games I record are very CPU and GPU demanding, but obviously, most of them still require a decent amount of RAM. Here's my scenario, I'm recording GTA V ONLINE with a friend or two with lots of mods, scripts, and an ENB on high - ultra graphics. While I'm recording, obviously I'll have the game running with all of the additions to better the quality, I have OBS running to record my gameplay either using my CPU or GPU, there's a possibility I have Audacity running to record audio, I have Skype running in the background maybe talking to a friend I'm recording with, along with a few tabs open in Chrome. This scenario probably isn't very accurate, because I haven't gotten all of my parts and I don't know how everything performs (specs for pc are below) and because I know the amount of applications running depends on the amount of cores in the CPU, I think, right? Although the amount of applications running depends on the CPU mainly, the applications that are running still use the RAM to actually run and do the tasks. Hopefully you get that. So, after all of that rambling, I guess my question is: Can I use 3 of 4 RAM slots with two sticks of HyperX Fury SDRAM DDR3 4GB 1866 (so two sticks of that certain type of RAM) running dual channel and the other remaining stick (which is the exact same stick, but only 1 of the total 3) running in single channel? So there is a total of 3 of the exact same sticks. I'm wanting 12GB RAM (3x4GB RAM), because I feel that 16GB would be overkill. So, can I have a total of 3x4GB sticks of RAM and run two of the three sticks in dual channel and run the remaining stick in single channel? I think that this would decrease performance and efficiency, but I'm not sure. OR! Would I have to choose between 8GB or 16GB of RAM to be safe and not risk any performance or efficiency. Hopefully you understood all of that. I know it was a mouth full, but I am trying to explain in as much detail as possible. So, can you please reply with a well explained and detailed reply, so it helps me? Thank you, so much.



CPU:

AMD FX-8320 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor



MOBO:

Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard



RAM:

Still confused, but either 3x4GB for 12GB, 2x4GB for 8GB, 4x4GB for 16GB, or 2x8GB for 16 GB of RAM.



GPU:

EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card (basically a GTX 950, but some specs are lower)



PSU:

EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (might upgrade to 700 if needed)

 

[basroil]

Just get the 16GB options, either 4x4 or 2x8, never consider 3x4

 

[Tradesman1]

I'd go 2x8GB, for one thing there is no guarantees when you try mixing DRAM from different packages, even if the same exact model of DRAM. For another AMD has a relatively weak MC (memory controller) that is designed towards a 2 stick setup - it can run 3-4 sticks but may have to sacrifice to a lower data rate or use increased voltages to DRAM and MC.