RAM question about my new i7 7820x/1080ti build

[jozef161]

Hello guys, so today I have received all my components for my first build ever, in fact, it will be my first PC since my Athlon XP 3200+ desktop from 2004 haha. For the past 4 years I have been on a gaming ASUS Laptop (i5 4200H, GTX 760m). Quite a jump! As you can probably assume, I am a rookie to building a computer, thus I have a question regarding the RAM, I bought a 2x8GB DDR4 memory kit for the build below. Was that a mistake and should have I bought 2 kits (4 memory sticks) instead since my motherboard supports quad channel architecture? Will there be a problem with support, and if not, might there be a problem when I decide to add another pair of memories further down the road? I know this might sound stupid to some of you, but the whole RAM thing with channels and dim slots just really confuses me. This is the build:

Intel i7 7820x
ASUS MB Sc 2066 ROG STRIX X299-XE GAMING
Corsair 16 GB KIT DDR4 3 200 MHz CL16 Vengeance RGB (2 x 8GB)
ASUS Strix 1080ti
Corsair HX1000i

I read a lot of articles about RAM, but I still didn't get a clear answer. Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Zerk2012]

It should work you should of bought a 4 stick set not 2 packs of 2 or 1 pack of 2.
Any time you add more memory to what you have their a chance it will not work together, their sold in matched tested sets to work together.
Most people that need a 8 core 16 thread processor needs more memory than 16GB.
What are you using this PC for.

 

[Finstar]

I'm a bit curious about the cpu choice too. For gaming, the i7 8700k would have been better and cheaper. For productivity workloads Threadripper 1920X or 1950X would have been a lot better although a bit more expensive.

 

[jozef161]

It should work you should of bought a 4 stick set not 2 packs of 2 or 1 pack of 2.
Any time you add more memory to what you have their a chance it will not work together, their sold in matched tested sets to work together.
Most people that need a 8 core 12 thread processor needs more memory than 16GB.
What are you using this PC for.

I will be using it for multiple purposes, gaming, video editing, streaming, and some work. I know that 16gb is a low choice for a 7820x, my original plan was to get an additional 16gb as soon as I have extra money to spend. So would you recommend that I return my 2x8 kit and get a 4x8 kit? Even if i bought exactly the same 2x8 kit later it might not work together? That's really weird 🙁

As for my CPU choice, I went for 7820x because I see Z370 platform as a dead-end, and I believe that X299 will have another generation of CPUs launched by the end of the year. I also know that 8700k beats 7820x in gaming now, but there will a point perhaps next year where games will benefit from the insane amount of cores that HEDT line-up of CPUs offers. In regards to Ryzen 7, I did consider it, it was a hard choice, but I went for 7820x for the better over-clocking room that it has and for slightly better single core performance. Threadripper would have been a waste of money because I won't do productivity work to such an extent, I see 8 cores to be a sweet spot for a gaming+workstation build.

 

[Zerk2012]

If you have the money for a 4X8GB set then I would return it if not the buy another set of the exact memory when you can. The chances of getting another set to work are fairly high but not guaranteed It might take some tweaking. If you have problems with it later post back I can usually talk people through the adjustments. If your not going to need more than 16GB then don't stress it.

For the games in a couple years using all those cores I would think not. People have been saying games will need more than 2 cores for about 10 years and it's just now coming true.

For a dead platform, most are dead by the time you need to replace a high end processor.

 

[jozef161]

Thanks! I don't really think I will need more than 16gb of ram so I will just stick to what I have for the time being. I saw some varying opinions, that's why I posted this thread, I even heard people say that on X299 platforms occupying 4 slots of ram will deliver better performance than occupying 2 slots of the equivalent amount of RAM? But on youtube I saw 'pros' build X299 platforms with occupying merely 2 slots instead of 4 so I don't know what to believe anymore, I just don't want to limit the performance of my CPU due to screwing up my RAM setup. If I run into troubles in the future I will definitely PM you. Appreciate it!

 

[Zerk2012]

It will have a bit better memory performance using 4 sticks but not enough to get upset about.

 

[jozef161]

It will have a bit better memory performance using 4 sticks but not enough to get upset about.

Another thinng, so if I install them now it will automatically run in dual channel mode, and once I add 2 more of the same sticks the system will automatically run it in quad channel mode right?