What the memory channels in the CPU stand for?

[Maurice97]

http://ark.intel.com/products/80811/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz
Max # of Memory Channels 2??
Does it mean that i cannot add more than 2 ram sticks even if the motherboard supports up to 4 sticks?
i'm confused please help :|

 

[Geekwad]

This is about communications with the RAM and the CPU (without going into it too deeply). You can add four sticks, but it is highly recommended that you purchase all four at once in a kit for best RAM compatibility (with each other).

 

[Dunlop0078]

You can have four sticks but they will operate in dual channel mode meaning the cpu can only interact with two sticks at once you still get the full amount of memory on the sticks but only 2 will be written to at the same time . X99 for example supports quad channel which means the cpu can interact with 4 sticks at once. Thats how I understand it anyway.

 

[Sergeant_Sneaky]

It basically means you can have 2 pairs of RAM if you want them to run at Dual Channel speeds. So you could have 2x4GB and 2x2GB, if they are correctly placed.

 

[Maurice97]

It basically means you can have 2 pairs of RAM if you want them to run at Dual Channel speeds. So you could have 2x4GB and 2x2GB, if they are correctly placed.

i got two 4gb sticks