Question Ram slots

[trikos93]

Hello my computer fellows.
I have a question about what is best. I have a pc build with Motherboard Asus Tuf Gaming b550 it has dual slot channel should be right how i called it. It has 2 difference colour, anyway my CPU is Ryzen 5 3600 but i am running 16GB ram 2x8gb DDR4 3200c. I wannt to upgrade my ram to 32 GB. I am thinking to buy to more 2x8 same ram from manufactory and specs so i will go 32 (it comes cheaper) but i am not sure if i will get the perfomance i wannt or if it will work after all. Motherboard manuel doesnt say anything about use 2 or 4 ram just use A1 A2 or B1 B2 if you are dual stick . I have see some videos but the perfomance is debeatable some people say go 2 ram slots its better some people say it wont impact your perfomance if your motherboard support 4 slots ram. I am comfused of what i should go. Should i buy 2x16 or get 2 more 2x8 and have 32GB overall

 

[boju]

Ryzen is picky about ram and mixing makes it more challenging especially with xmp/docp. With four sticks you might not be able to achieve 3200mhz, it is a risk. Doesn't matter if ram bought is the same model, it's the IC chips soldered onto the memory pcb board that can often change during the manufacturing process. So it is best to keep memory to a set, bought in a package together as they have been tested for compatibility.

Id recommend going the two stick route. And you always use A2/B2 slots for dual channel, this is with Intel too and every board with four dimm slots. Second and fourth slot from cpu.

 

[Misgar]

Motherboard Asus Tuf Gaming b550 it has dual slot channel

Your CPU comes with 2 built-in IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) channels and the motherboard has 4 DIMM slots. Each CPU IMC is connected to a pair of DIMM slots, so you end up with 2 channels and 4 slots.

You can run the CPU in Dual Channel mode using any one of these three options:-

1). A pair of DIMMs in slots A2 and B2, leaving slots A1 and B1 empty (preferred option for 2 DIMMs)
2). A pair of DIMMs in slots B1 and B2, leaving slots A2 and B2 empty
3). A pair of DIMMs in slots B1 and B2 and a second pair of DIMMs in slots A2 and B2

If you fit a single DIMM in any of the four slots, leaving the other three slots empty, the system will run in Single Channel mode.

I am thinking to buy to more 2x8 same ram from manufactory and specs so i will go 32 (it comes cheaper) but i am not sure if i will get the perfomance i wannt or if it will work after all.

As explained by @boju, buying a second pair of DIMMs is not ideal, because they will not be exactly the same as the first pair of DIMMs, even if they have exactly the same part number. To run 4 DIMMs, it's better to buy all 4 DIMMs as a single matched kit, not two unmatched kits of 2 DIMMs each.

Another disadvantage of running 4 DIMMs is they may not be capable of running the same XMP overclock as 2 DIMMs on their own. You can probably run 2 DIMMs at 3200MT/s, but with 4 DIMMs, you might have to manually reduce the XMP speed to 2933MT/s. Four DIMMs place more "load" on the CPU's IMCs than 2 DIMMs.

The best option is to buy a pair of 16GB DIMMs (total 32GB) and sell the old 8GB DIMMs. As stated above, 2 DIMMs tend to run at faster XMP speeds than 4 DIMMs, due to memory bus loading.

If you feel happy making manual adjustments in the BIOS to find a stable XMP overclock and you're prepared to boot the computer from a MemTest86 USB flash drive to check RAM stability, go ahead and buy a second kit of 2x8GB, but don't be surprised if the PC is unstable at 3200MT/s or fails to boot.

You should be fine though, running 4 DIMMs at the JEDEC default speed of DDR4 2133 or 2400MT/s, i.e. with XMP switched off.

 

[trikos93]

Your CPU comes with 2 built-in IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) channels and the motherboard has 4 DIMM slots. Each CPU IMC is connected to a pair of DIMM slots, so you end up with 2 channels and 4 slots.

You can run the CPU in Dual Channel mode using any one of these three options:-

1). A pair of DIMMs in slots A2 and B2, leaving slots A1 and B1 empty (preferred option for 2 DIMMs)
2). A pair of DIMMs in slots B1 and B2, leaving slots A2 and B2 empty
3). A pair of DIMMs in slots B1 and B2 and a second pair of DIMMs in slots A2 and B2

If you fit a single DIMM in any of the four slots, leaving the other three slots empty, the system will run in Single Channel mode.


As explained by @boju, buying a second pair of DIMMs is not ideal, because they will not be exactly the same as the first pair of DIMMs, even if they have exactly the same part number. To run 4 DIMMs, it's better to buy all 4 DIMMs as a single matched kit, not two unmatched kits of 2 DIMMs each.

Another disadvantage of running 4 DIMMs is they may not be capable of running the same XMP overclock as 2 DIMMs on their own. You can probably run 2 DIMMs at 3200MT/s, but with 4 DIMMs, you might have to manually reduce the XMP speed to 2933MT/s. Four DIMMs place more "load" on the CPU's IMCs than 2 DIMMs.

The best option is to buy a pair of 16GB DIMMs (total 32GB) and sell the old 8GB DIMMs. As stated above, 2 DIMMs tend to run at faster XMP speeds than 4 DIMMs, due to memory bus loading.

If you feel happy making manual adjustments in the BIOS to find a stable XMP overclock and you're prepared to boot the computer from a MemTest86 USB flash drive to check RAM stability, go ahead and buy a second kit of 2x8GB, but don't be surprised if the PC is unstable at 3200MT/s or fails to boot.

You should be fine though, running 4 DIMMs at the JEDEC default speed of DDR4 2133 or 2400MT/s, i.e. with XMP switched off.

@boju @Misgar Thank you very much both of you you have helped me a lot. i will go for 2x16 kit and as you said i can sell them or keep as back up if something go wrong someday. 1 last thing please before we close this helfull topic. I am running 3200 ddr4 with this motherboard and CPU could i go to something else so i can have advance if i want to upgrade my CPU someday so the new ram wont go outdate or 3200 will stay there for the next 5 years ?

 

[boju]

Depends what you use your comp for. 32gb would probably, and id say for most things gaming, that amount would see you through to 5yrs or beyond, however your current cpu probably not as long. Upgrade options could extend to 5800x or x3D version if wanted to extend relevance towards your current platform with ddr4. Upgrades would end there and wouldn't be able to reuse ddr4 ram in newer platforms utilising ddr5.

 

[trikos93]

Depends what you use your comp for. 32gb would probably, and id say for most things gaming, that amount would see you through to 5yrs or beyond, however your current cpu probably not as long. Upgrade options could extend to 5800x or x3D version if wanted to extend relevance towards your current platform with ddr4. Upgrades would end there and wouldn't be able to reuse ddr4 ram in newer platforms utilising ddr5.

thank you very much for the infos i will go same RAm Corsair 2x16gb Vengeance pro i was really okey with the 16 gb so no point changing to something unknow 😀 and i like RGB lights xD.. I have in my mind to get a better CPU 5800x was the 1 cross my mind since is okey with the price and it fits to my whole setup.

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