RAM: Single vs. Dual Channel

[DaemonWarrior44]

Since both are at about the same price, I want to know if there's any difference between Single and Dual Channel RAM.
In my opinion, Dual Channel is aesthetically better, but I care much more about performance. Is there any difference?
P.S: I'm going to buy DDR4 RAM.

[♠FlamieMeister♠]

Dual channel literally means 2 channels. More communication space, faster loading times, more bandwidth. GO dual

[Glenwing]

5 minutes ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

Since both are at about the same price, I want to know if there's any difference between Single and Dual Channel RAM.
In my opinion, Dual Channel is aesthetically better, but I care much more about performance. Is there any difference?
P.S: I'm going to buy DDR4 RAM.

RAM can be operated in Single-Channel Mode or Dual-Channel Mode, but there is no "Single-Channel RAM" or "Dual-Channel RAM". It's just RAM. Whether it runs in Single or Dual channel mode depends on the system and configuration, not on the RAM itself.

[xentropa]

1 minute ago, Glenwing said:

RAM can be operated in Single-Channel Mode or Dual-Channel Mode, but there is no "Single-Channel RAM" or "Dual-Channel RAM". It's just RAM. Whether it runs in Single or Dual channel mode depends on the system and configuration, not on the RAM itself.

This was what I was thinking too.

[DaemonWarrior44]

1 minute ago, Glenwing said:

RAM can be operated in Single-Channel Mode or Dual-Channel Mode, but there is no "Single-Channel RAM" or "Dual-Channel RAM". It's just RAM. Whether it runs in Single or Dual channel mode depends on the system and configuration, not on the RAM itself.

 

Just now, xentropa said:

This was what I was thinking too.

Okay, understood. So the question should be: Is there any difference between Single-Channel Mode and Dual-Channel Mode?
 

♠FlamieMeister♠

Said that Dual is faster than Single-Channel Mode...

[Corrupt_Liberty]

Dual channel is kinda like RAID 0 (not really but close enough to get the idea).  You have to have pairs of DIMM's for it to work.  Even in boards that support dual channel (most all of the DDR-4 boards that I know of do) if you only use one stick then it can only operate in single channel mode.  There are also triple channel (DDR-3 X58 chipset boards) that require sets of three and quad channel that use sets of four.  I hope that explains it a little better.

[Corrupt_Liberty]

1 minute ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

 

Okay, understood. So the question should be: Is there any difference between Single-Channel Mode and Dual-Channel Mode?

 

Yes, definitely.  Dual-channel is faster.  Will you notice in gaming?  Probably not. 

[The Benjamins]

1 minute ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

 

Okay, understood. So the question should be: Is there any difference between Single-Channel Mode and Dual-Channel Mode?
 

♠FlamieMeister♠

Said that Dual is faster than Single-Channel Mode...

think of it like RAID0 Dual is 2x speed, quad is 4x speed. you can have 4 sticks in dual channel.

[Technous285]

Dual Channel tend to provide a 5-10% performance increase in memory intensive applications such as video editing, over Single Channel, but if it comes down to like 2x8GB DDR4 sticks against 1x16GB DDR4 stick for a gaming system - 95% of the time you're best going for the single large stick and a decent GPU (eg: GTX 1070) instead of hoping to get some sort of benefit for going Dual Channel on the RAM.

[DaemonWarrior44]

3 minutes ago, Corrupt_Liberty said:

Dual channel is kinda like RAID 0 (not really but close enough to get the idea).  You have to have pairs of DIMM's for it to work.  Even in boards that support dual channel (most all of the DDR-4 boards that I know of do) if you only use one stick then it can only operate in single channel mode.  There are also triple channel (DDR-3 X58 chipset boards) that require sets of three and quad channel that use sets of four.  I hope that explains it a little better.

 

2 minutes ago, The Benjamins said:

think of it like RAID0 Dual is 2x speed, quad is 4x speed. you can have 4 sticks in dual channel.

OK, so it's faster, but just a little bit, no?

[Glenwing]

4 minutes ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

 

Okay, understood. So the question should be: Is there any difference between Single-Channel Mode and Dual-Channel Mode?
 

♠FlamieMeister♠

Said that Dual is faster than Single-Channel Mode...

Yes, it's just a simple multiplier... 2 channels = 2x bandwidth, 3 channel = 3x bandwidth, and so forth.

 

The more important question is whether it actually matters... If you are not even using the bandwidth provided by Single-Channel, then having twice as much will do nothing at all. Most things do not scale beyond dual channel, but pretty much all modern systems support at least dual channel. Whether it matters compared to single channel frankly is not widely tested, because all systems are capable of dual channel so there's no reason to test if you need it. Whether you need it or not, you have it.

[Corrupt_Liberty]

1 minute ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

 

OK, so it's faster, but just a little bit, no?

It's faster, depending on what you plan on doing with it.  What exactly are you looking at buying?

[DaemonWarrior44]

Just now, Corrupt_Liberty said:

It's faster, depending on what you plan on doing with it.  What exactly are you looking at buying?

Mostly gaming, I'm relatively new in computers so I don't care much about things like editing, programming, etc.

[Corrupt_Liberty]

Just now, DaemonWarrior44 said:

Mostly gaming, I'm relatively new in computers so I don't care much about things like editing, programming, etc.

Then you won't notice much difference one way or the other.  

 

[DaemonWarrior44]

7 minutes ago, Technous285 said:

Dual Channel tend to provide a 5-10% performance increase in memory intensive applications such as video editing, over Single Channel, but if it comes down to like 2x8GB DDR4 sticks against 1x16GB DDR4 stick for a gaming system - 95% of the time you're best going for the single large stick and a decent GPU (eg: GTX 1070) instead of hoping to get some sort of benefit for going Dual Channel on the RAM.

 

4 minutes ago, Glenwing said:

Yes, it's just a simple multiplier... 2 channels = 2x bandwidth, 3 channel = 3x bandwidth, and so forth.

 

The more important question is whether it actually matters... If you are not even using the bandwidth provided by Single-Channel, then having twice as much will do nothing at all. Most things do not scale beyond dual channel, but pretty much all modern systems support at least dual channel. Whether it matters compared to single channel frankly is not widely tested, because all systems are capable of dual channel so there's no reason to test if you need it. Whether you need it or not, you have it.

So, if I don't do anything heavy I won't notice any difference, right?

[Megahurt]

In gaming, it helps in scenarios where you are cpu limited and some titles that really seem to like a lot of memory bandwidth, but with most games that are gpu limited, you won't notice any difference.

[DaemonWarrior44]

Oh, but... If I buy two Single-Channel kits, will it work?
I just saw the Techquickie video and Linus said that two Dual-Channel kits may not work correctly in a Quad-Channel Motherboard, ...

[Glenwing]

4 minutes ago, DaemonWarrior44 said:

Oh, but... If I buy two Single-Channel kits, will it work?

Yes, there's nothing actually different about the RAM in single-channel or dual-channel kits. It's a "kit" like buying a CPU and motherboard packaged together in a bundle or something.

[DaemonWarrior44]

1 minute ago, Glenwing said:

Yes, there's nothing actually different about the RAM in single-channel or dual-channel kits. It's a "kit" like buying a CPU and motherboard packaged together in a bundle or something.

Oh, okay, thank you.
Actually, thank you all, guys.

[Corrupt_Liberty]

Found a video that better describes this,