Ram: 4 x 4gb vs 2 x 8gb?

Mr Bob

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
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Essentially, I'm trying to figure out if performance is affected by the # of memory slots used.

Assuming in dual channel configuration, 4 sticks compared to 2 sticks, all equaling the same size, what affects does it have on performance?
 
Feb 24, 2009
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www.rackmountsales.com
4X4GB and 2X8GB, the only difference is the 2 empty slots you could have for another upgrade in the future. I would go with the 4GB Sticks. By that time, the 8GB sticks will have dropped in price to the point that you end up spending about the same amount over all. You have 4 slots. If you fill only the first 3 you will take advantage of triple channel memory. Although tri channel is not optimized by many applications it is technically the fastest way to go. I use 3 x 4GB sticks and do most my work in Photoshop/Lightroom. I think 3x4GB will be faster if any of your programs can take advantage of triple channel memory. 4x4GB is faster the second you use over 12GB of RAM. In all other cases they are exactly the same.
 

heymrdj

Diamond Member
May 28, 2007
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Duh 2x8 so you can add another 2x8 :D.

Joking aside, the increase you see will be negligible outside benchmarking.
 

JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
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It depends on the chipset. on a dual channel chipset like z68 it makes zero difference. On a quad channel chipset like x79, you want to go with 4 DIMMs.

4X4GB and 2X8GB, the only difference is the 2 empty slots you could have for another upgrade in the future. I would go with the 4GB Sticks. By that time, the 8GB sticks will have dropped in price to the point that you end up spending about the same amount over all. You have 4 slots. If you fill only the first 3 you will take advantage of triple channel memory. Although tri channel is not optimized by many applications it is technically the fastest way to go. I use 3 x 4GB sticks and do most my work in Photoshop/Lightroom. I think 3x4GB will be faster if any of your programs can take advantage of triple channel memory. 4x4GB is faster the second you use over 12GB of RAM. In all other cases they are exactly the same.

Be specific. You would only be able to use triple channel if you have x58 or x79. Using three DIMMs on a dual channel chipset does not make it triple channel.