[SOLVED] RAM slots - 4 smaller sticks or 2 larger - which is best?

[skylineboy2002]

hi all, new here.

im looking at a build, custom but built by a company i found.

they offer all sorts of configurables etc,

under ram, eg they offer: 4x4gb (2666) or 2x8gb (2666) and they also offer this similarly on the 32gb, and 64gbs etc (some are faster mhz though)..

and i looked on corsairs site for info, and they have even 128gb, in 4x32's or 8x16s (same speed) (the 8x16s are £1400, the others are 600 ish!)

question is, is it better to have MORE of the smaller sticks to make the same over all, or to have fewer to make the same?

also would there be much jump in performance from say 2666-3000mhz to 3200? for the same ram in total.

for my build im looking around the 32gb, to make it a lil future proofed, but 16gb as min. photo work and some video edits (small scale). AMD ryzen,

thanks in advance.

 

[SkyNetRising]

On dual channel boards - it's best to have 2 ram modules (Ryzen is dual channel).
Ryzen loves fast ram. 3200mhz is best (considering price/performance).
3000mhz is acceptable also, but you shouldn't go any lower than that.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Typically, with dual channel motherboards, you want to go with two larger RAM modules to get to where you want in RAM quantity. So go with 2x16GB over 4x8GB. This removes some additional communication necessary between the two banks of dual-channels in a four slot motherboard.

With AMD Ryzen, go with the faster RAM, 3200/3600

-Wolf sends

 

[skylineboy2002]

thanks, yea i did think about a slight bottleneck problem..

eg if an app uses 5gb, on a 4gb set up, it would be "full" on one stick and then 1gb on another, (rather than it all being ok on one, 8gb stick) so involves some more resources? - that may be wrong, or i've over simplified???

 

[Wolfshadw]

No. RAM doesn't work like that.

Think of it like a small room a loud conversation. Each RAM slot is a person talking. With just two people talking, it's easy to understand and process what you're hearing. With four people talking, you need to take time to differentiate who is talking to whom and organize what's being said into a meaningful conversation. Computers can do this easily, but it does take just the tiniest bit of time to do so.

-Wolf sends

 

[skylineboy2002]

thanks, i was clearly misinformed in another forum a few months ago!

No. RAM doesn't work like that.

Think of it like a small room a loud conversation. Each RAM slot is a person talking. With just two people talking, it's easy to understand and process what you're hearing. With four people talking, you need to take time to differentiate who is talking to whom and organize what's being said into a meaningful conversation. Computers can do this easily, but it does take just the tiniest bit of time to do so.

-Wolf sends

 

[sizzling]

For gaming I have seen benchmarks showing 4 vs 2 can see improvements with 4 on both AMD and Intel. However everything I read suggests using 2 for better stability and less likely to have issues reaching rated speeds. I started a thread on this a while back, I will dig it out.

 

[sizzling]

Found it https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/2x8gb-vs-4x4gb-gaming-comparison-intel.3479216/

 

[SkyNetRising]

For gaming I have seen benchmarks showing 4 vs 2 can see improvements with 4 on both AMD and Intel.

That's just some random youtube video.
Have you seen any authoritative tests with this? Like from Gamersnexus, LinusTechTips, Tomshardware, Jayz2cents?

 

[Tanish2005]

hi all, new here.

im looking at a build, custom but built by a company i found.

they offer all sorts of configurables etc,

under ram, eg they offer: 4x4gb (2666) or 2x8gb (2666) and they also offer this similarly on the 32gb, and 64gbs etc (some are faster mhz though)..

and i looked on corsairs site for info, and they have even 128gb, in 4x32's or 8x16s (same speed) (the 8x16s are £1400, the others are 600 ish!)

question is, is it better to have MORE of the smaller sticks to make the same over all, or to have fewer to make the same?

also would there be much jump in performance from say 2666-3000mhz to 3200? for the same ram in total.

for my build im looking around the 32gb, to make it a lil future proofed, but 16gb as min. photo work and some video edits (small scale). AMD ryzen,

thanks in advance.

I recommend you to get a dual channel 3200 MHz one, quad channels dosent quite sync together that good, also Ryzen cpus love dual channel fast non-ECC buffer memory, also remember 1 thing, always buy faster ram over more ram, for eg, you have slower car with more fuel capacity, ur friend has a faster car with less fuel capacity, but still your friend will beat you in a race, though not in longetivity

Regards,
Tanish

Peace!

 

[geofelt]

I vote for the two stick kit.
It is easier for the cpu to to manage two sticks vs. 4
Then, also is the support, particularly for ryzen.
Ryzen and intel for the most part are dual channel operation,
Even with 4 sticks.
Depending on the processor and the motherboard, fast ram with 4 channels may not be possible.
Check the ram qvl list for your motherboard to see what is supported.
Ryzen is more tightly tied to ram so fast ram is important to performance.

One might think, I'll get a two stick kit now so I can upgrade in the future.
Beware that tactic might not work.
Ram is guaranteed only for the capacity of the kit.
Even the same part number will not necessarily be matched.
Buy the capacity you need up front.
Ram is reasonably priced today.
If you upgrade in the future, consider replacing what you have in favor of a larger kit.

 

[sizzling]

That's just some random youtube video.
Have you seen any authoritative tests with this? Like from Gamersnexus, LinusTechTips, Tomshardware, Jayz2cents?

One of the reasons I started that other threads was I wanted more information and wanted people to challenge it with other data. I’ve seen other discussions on Tom’s claiming similar results. However the YouTube channel that produced that video has many benchmark videos for gpu’s & CPU’s and they do align to other reviews from trusted sites so I have a moderate amount of confidence that they know what they are doing. This topic has come up several times over the last year and I’ve never seen evidence disproving those videos.