Single vs Dual channel RAM

[VunkJr]

I want to build a PC for gaming with i5-6500 and GTX 960 or RX 480. And I will go with dual ram slot motherboard and will there be a difference between single or dual channel RAM? I want to go with single 8 gb stick so it would be more futureproof. But would it be very different from 2x4gb sticks? Also 2 sticks are a little bit more expensive.

 

[LuvdemTacos]

i dont really know..but i heard that dual channel makes it faster (idk wat is faster, all i heard is faster). I personally use dual channel cuz the store clerk just gave me that one. (Used up all my ram slots tho)

 

[MarkW]

Dual channel will allow your computer to run 5% to 10% faster since it will be able to pull data from both channels at the same time.

Most motherboards have 4 memory slots. 2x 4GB or 2x 8GB will be the best setup for most people.Make sure you buy compatible memory. Every motherboard page on the manufacterers site will have a list of tested memory.

 

[Solandri]

Dual channel memory is one of those technologies which shows an impressive 20%-40% speedup in memory benchmarks. But in real-world benchmarks it only translates into a 0%-5% speedup. There just aren't that many situations when your computer's performance is limited by memory bandwidth.* A few years back I accidentally put the memory sticks in the wrong slots on my gaming system. I ended up running in single channel mode for 2 years before I noticed the error. I put the sticks in the correct slots, started the computer up and... saw no perceivable difference in performance.

Since you can get dual channel for free when building your computer, go ahead and use it (buy your memory sticks in pairs - the dual channel slots are color-coded). But if you have a pre-built system which will result in mismatched memory sticks after an upgrade, or (as in your case) you plan to upgrade memory in the future, don't fret about running it in single channel mode. You're not going to notice the difference. Get the 8GB stick.

* The one place that is frequently limited by memory bandwidth is the GPU. It's so sensitive to memory speed that we've put RAM on the GPU itself and used all sorts of tricks to make it much, much faster than computer RAM. So dual channel memory may make a bigger difference if you're gaming using Intel's integrated GPU (which uses system memory as VRAM). But if you've got a dedicated GPU, don't worry about it.

 

[Bearmann]

If you are using a separate GPU in a Skylake build, there won't be any difference:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1478-page1.html

As far as adding additional RAM at a later date, sometimes the new RAM (if you can get the same model) doesn't work with the old RAM even if they are the exact same model. That's why RAM is sold in matched sets. It's more predictable to sell the old RAM and buy a new higher capacity stick or matched set.