2GB vs. 4GB sticks

[bunnyfubbles]

I'm planning on upgrading soon and would likely go i7 ($200 i7 930 due to having a Microcenter near by )

Since I'm coming from a system that already has 8GB of ram I really wouldn't like to go with less as my usage has already come close to maxing that out.

With i7 and triple channel the common setup is obviously going to be 3 x 2GB with 6GB total. Now I could add in a 3x1GB for 9GB total or even another 3x2GB for 12GB, but there are kits of 3x4GB that are reasonably priced.

I thus naturally lean towards 4GB sticks but I notice their speeds are generally slower (DDR3 1333 vs. DDR3 1600) and timings generally higher - most all are around 9-9-9-24 vs. 7-8-7-24 for some 2GB DDR3 1600 sticks. Is there any real world difference here? What about when overclocking?

I've always been of the opinion that super fast ram has mostly always been for e-peen bragging rights as the real world performance never justifies the cost, but maybe things have changed since I last kept track of this stuff.

To make things simpler I'm considering (but still very much open to suggestion):

$260 (1 kit 3 x 4GB, DDR3 1333, 9-9-9-24)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231356

vs.

$300 (2 kits 3 x 2GB, DDR3 1600, 7-8-7-24)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231335

Could I drive 6 sticks at those settings in an overclock (planning/hoping for the magic 4+GHz on the CPU) and see a real world performance difference? Or should I save $40?

 

[Blain]

The chipset will support dual channel memory as well as triple.
Go for 2 x 2GB or 2 X 4GB sticks now, buy a 3rd later for tripple channel if you want.

Don't pay extra from lower timings, thinking you'll see better performance.
There is a reason to purchase tighter timings, but pure performance isn't one of them.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

but if I can afford 12GB now I should go with the cheaper 3 x 4GB set? It doesn't seem like the 2 x 4GB/2 x 2GB kits or single 4GB or 2GB sticks are appreciably cheaper per GB...

 

[imagoon]

Are you over clocking? Glancing at Intel's site the i7 930 only does 1066mhz RAM officially so 1333 and 1600 mhz would be lost using the processor at stock speeds. If you plan on over clocking then the faster ram would keep it stable as the link speeds increased.

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=41447

 

[mv2devnull]

I've seen Xeon 5500 documents that state:
* One module per channel -> 1333
* Two modules per channel -> 1066
* Three modules per channel -> 800
I.e. having more than one module per channel reduces clock.

However, the Xeon version of Nehalem does have different MCH. After all, it allows 1333 stock, unlike the i7 9xx's 1066, (and you can have dual-CPU setup). Therefore, it might not matter.

Nevertheless, it does hint that accessing six modules is technically more demanding than accessing three modules. On the other hand, a 4 GB module is a bit more demanding than a 2 GB; there is obviously more hardware on it. A plausible reason for not finding a 4GB with tighter timings (cheaply).

I would take the 3 * 4GB.