dual channel or more ram for wannabe developer

[princegupta]

I would like to upgrade ram for my laptop(Asus-fx705). I like to run Windows but have to use linux with Virtual Machine for dev  and my commit size usuaslly go up to 15 GB on 8 GB ram laptop, 

I'm kinda confused about whether to go with 8 GB stick to make it a dual channel or go for 16 GB stick for bit more ram, any insights would be really nice.

[ishapli8]

You should go with dual channel but it you have one 8 gb stick you could just add a 16 gb stick and have 24 gigs of ram. Then you could also get another 16 gb stick later and switch it out with the 8 gb one and have 32 gb.

[5x5]

dual-channel for the extra performance.

[Mateyyy]

If you don't do a whole lot of latency intensive tasks and feel like the extra capacity would help, then I don't think adding in a 16GB stick is too bad of a choice.

[Haro]

7 minutes ago, princegupta said:

I'm kinda confused about whether to go with 8 GB stick to make it a dual channel or go for 16 GB stick for bit more ram

depends what you value more. 

bandwidth or capacity. if you need the extra capacity then go for that.

if you need the better latency/ speed go for the 8 gig stick.

Edited July 10, 2020 by TofuHaroto

[Oshino Shinobu]

If you add a 16GB stick to the 8GB already in there, the first 16GB should run in dual channel (8GB on each stick) and the remaining 8GB on the 16GB stick will run in single channel once you've exceeded 16GB usage. Dual channel doesn't require the sticks to be the same capacity, though it's less certain to work if they're not matched. 

[princegupta]

> You should go with dual channel but it you have one 8 gb stick you could just add a 16 gb stick and have 24 gigs of ram. Then you could also get another 16 gb stick later and switch it out with the 8 gb one and have 32 gb.

 

yes I'm thinking same but does extra performance of dual channel out weights 1/3rd increase in capacity

 

> depends what you value more. 

bandwidth or capacity. 

 

I am confused about this thing, also for me to use "Windows Hypervisor" and WSL, I've to set UMA Buffer size to auto which takes 2 gig of my ram, that's why I'm leaning towards 8+16 gb ram stick

[ishapli8]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

If you add a 16GB stick to the 8GB already in there, the first 16GB should run in dual channel (8GB on each stick) and the remaining 8GB on the 16GB stick will run in single channel once you've exceeded 16GB usage. Dual channel doesn't require the sticks to be the same capacity, though it's less certain to work if they're not matched. 

I have a random 4gb stick and a different brand 8gb stick and they work fine in dual channel together.

[princegupta]

7 minutes ago, ishapli8 said:

I have a random 4gb stick and a different brand 8gb stick and they work fine in dual channel together.

sorry if I'm wrong but doesn't dual channel need same ram sizes atleast. 

[ishapli8]

Just now, princegupta said:

sorry if I'm wrong but doesn't dual channel need same ram sizes atleast. 

It doesn’t. It will just run at the speed of the slowest stick.

[princegupta]

1 minute ago, ishapli8 said:

It doesn’t. It will just run at the speed of the slowest stick.

so 8gb and 16 gb ram should work in dual channel?

[ishapli8]

Just now, princegupta said:

so 8gb and 16 gb ram should work in dual channel?

It should and then later if you need 32 gb you can just switch the 8 go stick with another 16 gb stick.

[princegupta]

Thanks guys for valuable insights I'm going with a new 16 gb ram stick that will increase my total capacity to 24gb ram, even if dual channel won't work out, I don't think it will cause much issue, as I don't play games very much and my laptop already has gtx 1650, so I don't see much benefit for possible dual channel config

 

Best Regards

 

[porina]

1 hour ago, princegupta said:

my commit size usuaslly go up to 15 GB on 8 GB ram laptop, 

For this alone I think going to 24GB is more useful than keeping 16GB dual channel. Not having enough ram is generally a much bigger performance impact than single/dual channel.

 

Having mismatched capacities means at best only part of the capacity will be dual channel. Still better than nothing.