Using 4 RAM Modules Instead of 2?

[Knight77]

Are there any downsides of using 4x8GB instead of 2x8GB?

 

Does this has an effect on the memory Controller becoming saturated?

 

RAM Speed is 3200 MHz

 

Just looking for clarification on this as I’ve heard conflicting reports. 

 

 

[Pixel5]

will not really make a difference, i personally always get 2x8GB to give me space to expand later on if needed.

[Optane^]

You'll have the heat and power consumption of 4 sticks instead of 2, but its not really and issue, ram draw so little power that they dont even need active cooling, as you've probably seen.

memory overclocking is harder the more sticks you have. since extra sticks mean more strain on the memory controller.

But performance wise, the is no disadvantage or advantage between 2 or 4 sticks on any consumer platform other than socket 1366 which is triple channel, and socket 2011 which is quad channel.

[2SidedPolygon]

Depends. On Ryzen, more sticks can actually have some level of detriment to performance, but on Intel, (Not certain if this is still true on CoffeLake) it can give minor gains. Either way, it doesn't really matter much and I'd go with the higher capacity option if you need it.

[Eastman51]

I run 4x8 RAM at 3000Mhz. I haven't seen any difference in performance from 2x8 to 4x8.

 

I had problems getting to work properly, but I narrowed that down to having garbage RAM (Corsair Vengeance LPX). Only other problem I've noticed is that my POST time is really long, but that seems to be a thing with Ryzen pre-checking the memory; my Haswell i5 PC also runs 4x8 and POSTS instantly, so.

[Firewrath9]

the IMC (memory controller) has more strain on 4x8, and 2x16 dram modules tend to oc worse.

unless you are pushing 4000mhz+ overclocks, it doesn't really matter.

[Knight77]

19 hours ago, Firewrath9 said:

the IMC (memory controller) has more strain on 4x8, and 2x16 dram modules tend to oc worse.

unless you are pushing 4000mhz+ overclocks, it doesn't really matter.

 

But is 3200MHz considered an overlcock?

 

so not worth getting 4x8 3200 and just keep 2x8 because of the high speed and risk of saturating MC?

[xg32]

20 hours ago, Knight77 said:

Are there any downsides of using 4x8GB instead of 2x8GB?

 

Does this has an effect on the memory Controller becoming saturated?

 

RAM Speed is 3200 MHz

 

Just looking for clarification on this as I’ve heard conflicting reports. 

 

 

on a very few boards it's better to use 4, evga has a board that has 2 slots and claim that it can oc better. I personally would choose 2x16 atm

[Firewrath9]

6 hours ago, Knight77 said:

 

But is 3200MHz considered an overlcock?

 

so not worth getting 4x8 3200 and just keep 2x8 because of the high speed and risk of saturating MC?

no, unless you are going for low cas ratings on bdie such as cl12, or cl13. if you need 32gb ram, and you already have 16, then there is no problem going with another 2x8.

[porina]

If using identical modules, 4x8 offers slightly higher practical bandwidth at slightly higher practical latency than 2x8.

 

The ability to overclock or loading on IMC isn't from the number of modules, but the number of rank. Per channel, two single rank modules performs the same as a single dual rank module. Currently most 8GB modules are single rank, but some older ones may be dual rank.

 

If you have 4x8GB single rank, and 2x16GB dual rank, it'll be near enough identical in potential.

 

If you should get 4x8 over 2x8 I'd say primarily depends if you really need to have 32GB of ram instead of 16GB. If not, don't bother.