Should I go Quad or Dual channel?

[Stranger129]

*EDIT* solved, cant go quad channel on AM4 so no real point 

 

I'm pretty new to PC building and I'm getting a new gaming/streaming PC that will also be used for some video editing. Everything has been ordered except the Dual channel 2x16GB RAM kit. So I was wondering if a Quad channel 4x8GB kit would be better instead? It is only €8 more for the quad channel kit, so would there be any performance improvements or reductions doing this and which would make more sense?

 

This is the full list which has all been paid for except the RAM - 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	Purchased For €0.00
CPU Cooler	be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler	Purchased For €0.00
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard	Purchased For €0.00
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	€180.89 @ Alternate
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro Series 256 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	Purchased For €0.00
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	Purchased For €0.00
Video Card	MSI GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB VENTUS OC Video Card	Purchased For €0.00
Case	Fractal Design Define R6 ATX Mid Tower Case	Purchased For €0.00
Power Supply	be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 650 W 80+ Platinum Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	Purchased For €0.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€180.89
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-29 09:06 CEST+0200

 

I would really appreciate any advice! Thank you.

[Ravendarat]

My understanding is its harder to get tighter timings with quad channel in a set up like yours so dual is preferred. With that said I went quad because of ascetics, wanting all 4 slots populated with RGB ram, not really a smart choice lol

[Guest]

Technically quad would provide better performance but the difference is practically negligible, especially with ddr4. Since it's not that much different of a price you might as well go quad since just in case a ram stick goes bad (probably not, but worst case scenario) you still have 3 left working for a while. Otherwise, there's pretty much no improvement.

[WereCat]

You cant go quad channel. Ryzen support only Dual Channel. 

Just get 2x16GB.

[Stranger129]

4 minutes ago, WereCat said:

You cant go quad channel. Ryzen support only Dual Channel. 

Just get 2x16GB.

The motherboard supports 4 RAM sticks though? Does that mean it will use 2 of the 4 sticks for just 1 channel?

[Jurrunio]

You're on AM4, dual channel only. Using 4 sticks now means no more upgrades in the future without dumping stuff out.

[FloRolf]

6 minutes ago, Ravendarat said:

My understanding is its harder to get tighter timings with quad channel in a set up like yours so dual is preferred. With that said I went quad because of ascetics, wanting all 4 slots populated with RGB ram, not really a smart choice lol

 

6 minutes ago, Dinglebop said:

Technically quad would provide better performance but the difference is practically negligible, especially with ddr4. Since it's not that much different of a price you might as well go quad since just in case a ram stick goes bad (probably not, but worst case scenario) you still have 3 left working for a while. Otherwise, there's pretty much no improvement.

 

Sheeesh guys... Ryzen Desktop is only dual channel, like literally all the other consumer platforms. 

[5x5]

2 minutes ago, Stranger129 said:

The motherboard supports 4 RAM sticks though? Does that mean it will use 2 of the 4 sticks for just 1 channel?

It means all four sticks will run in dual channel.

[Stranger129]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

You're on AM4, dual channel only. Using 4 sticks now means no more upgrades in the future without dumping stuff out.

I see, so performance wise 2 or 4 sticks makes no difference, but I will lose upgrade-ability if I go with 4x8gb? 

[Jurrunio]

Just now, Stranger129 said:

I see, so performance wise 2 or 4 sticks makes no difference, but I will lose upgrade-ability if I go with 4x8gb? 

Yes.

[Daniel644]

2 sticks vs 4 sticks is not dual vs quad channel, the Ryzen platform only supports Dual Channel, so when you have 4 sticks you have 2 pairs of dual channel (for lack of a better way of wording it), Ryzen NEEDS at a minimum a pair (dual channel) of RAM, but as you increase the number of sticks of ram you decrease the max speeds you can run the ram at, so you are better off keeping with 2 sticks.

[WereCat]

1 hour ago, Stranger129 said:

The motherboard supports 4 RAM sticks though? Does that mean it will use 2 of the 4 sticks for just 1 channel?

4RAM sticks are supported but you still have only Dual Channel. 

Using the extra slots will increase your RAM ranks. 

So if you have 4x8GB Single Rank RAM, you will run dual channel with dual rank. 

 

If you have 2x16GB dual rank RAM, you will still run the same config as above.

 

4x16GB dual ran will be dual channel with quad rank. 

 

More ranks = more speed at the same clocks... but only ever so slightly. Its not really noticeable unless you do RAM benchmarks. 

 

Also its more difficult to OC with more ranks and more sticks of RAM. 

 

 

[caldrin]

Also with 4 sticks you will find it hard to hit the XMB overclocks for the RAM..

Max I could get using the XMB profile with 4 sticks was 2900 I am sure I could have manually got it higher but not sure.. with only two sticks it hit the full 3300 speed.

[Dubious]

x570 Taichi is better with 4 sticks, is what I have been told..

 

It has T-top

[Ravendarat]

7 hours ago, FloRolf said:

 

 

Sheeesh guys... Ryzen Desktop is only dual channel, like literally all the other consumer platforms. 

I miss spoke and used the wrong terminalogy. I simply meant 2 sticks compared to 4, using the word "channel" was a misspeak on my part