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2 or 4 Sticks of Ram and Does It Matter?

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  • 2 or 4 Sticks of Ram and Does It Matter?

    Whether I pick 8- or 16GB of RAM, should I use only two channels or all four or does it even make a difference?
    Thanks!
    ASRock Z97 Extreme6 ATX LGA 1150--Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0 GHz Quad-Core LGA 1150--EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC 2.0 ACX GPU--Corsair H80i 120mm Liquid Cooler--Kingston HyperX Predator Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-2666--EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 80+ Gold Modular--Thermaltake Overseer RX-I ATX Full Tower--Crucial MX100 128GB SATA III MLC 2.5" SSD--Crucial MX100 256GB SATA III MLC 2.5" SSD--WD 500GB 3.5" 7200 RPM HDD--WD My Book 4TB External HD--Windows 10--1 extra top-mount Thermaltake 200mm Blue LED exhaust fan.


  • #2
    Re: 2 or 4 Sticks of Ram and Does It Matter?

    It can make a difference if you're able to bottleneck a dual channel setup. But in all honesty, it's really hard to gauge. You could see about a 10% gain if you were using something that was highly dependent on RAM or doing a ton of multitasking, but for something like a video game, you'd see a marginal if not negligible difference. I'd say for right now, just get the best 2x4GB, 8GB dual channel setup you can get your hot little hands on. And if you feel the need to get 16GB in the future, then you can always stack on two more. As it is right now, I'm able to run a crossfire eyefiniti setup with 5760x1200 resolution, do photoshop, lightroom, play any game on highest settings and am still not bottlenecked or even at limit of my 8GB of ram. I don't do any video editing, so results may vary.

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    • #3
      Re: 2 or 4 Sticks of Ram and Does It Matter?

      You don't state what speed in Mhz the ram you're looking at or considering.

      If you're OC'ing that 4790k and looking at above the 1600Mhz ram the IMC is rated,, then I'd say two sticks. If only to keep a 4 stick OC'd load off the IMC.
      #1 - Please, when seeking help, enter the make and model of ALL parts that your system is comprised of in your Signature, or at least the model #'s in your System Specs, then "Save' it.
      ____If you are overclocking, underclocking, or undervolting any parts, informing us of this and their values would prove beneficial in helping you.


      #2 - Consider your PSU to be the foundation from which all else is built upon. Anything built upon a weak foundation is poorly built.

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      • #4
        Re: 2 or 4 Sticks of Ram and Does It Matter?

        Originally posted by kephafan View Post
        Whether I pick 8- or 16GB of RAM, should I use only two channels or all four or does it even make a difference?
        Thanks!
        Your i7-4790K's memory controller is only a dual/two channel controller. Your Z97 board has four memory slots for DIMMs, two per channel.

        Your question is still valid, you would think using both slots in one channel would be better than using one slot, given twice the connections to the DIMMs. EmptiMind may be right about the difference being minimal, I don't know either way, which you just made me realize. I must check that out, more later...

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        • #5
          Re: 2 or 4 Sticks of Ram and Does It Matter?

          For overclocking, less memory, less stress on the IMC.
          MSI X-99SLI
          Intel 5930K WATER
          EVGA Nilla 1080
          POWER!



          http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5003339

          I did this> :) Default RMA discussion banned

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