2x16 or 4x8

[Rob_dog]

Hey all,

I am working on a new build and I am wondering whether I should go with 2x16 or 4x8 RAM. The 2x16 kit costs the same but has B-Die unlike the 4x8 kit. The kit in question is a G.Skill Trident Z RGB kit that will be used in pairing with a B550-E Strix and a 5800X. I would go 4x8 for purely aesthetics but if 2x16 increases performance, I would go with it. Please let me know what you think.

 

[Dedayog]

What are the speed and timings?

 

You can't just say 2x16 or 4x8 without specs. 

[Rob_dog]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

What are the speed and timings?

 

You can't just say 2x16 or 4x8 without specs. 

4x8: 3600 C16 (16-19-19-39, 1.35V)

2x16: 3600 C16 (16-16-16-36, 1.35V)

[Dedayog]

2 minutes ago, Rob_dog said:

4x8: 3600 C16 (16-19-19-39, 1.35V)

2x16: 3600 C16 (16-16-16-36, 1.35V)

How do you know the 2x16 is B-die?  Usually (but not always) B-die has tighter timings.

 

In the specs you list, I would go 2x16 to leave two slots open for expansion.  They'll perform the same for you.

[Moonzy]

18 minutes ago, Rob_dog said:

4x8: 3600 C16 (16-19-19-39, 1.35V)

2x16: 3600 C16 (16-16-16-36, 1.35V)

just wanna remind you that 3600 may not even work in single rank, officially it supports 3200

so going dual rank probably isnt gonna help with that

[Chris Pratt]

At 32GB, you're running four ranks either way. There is no benefit other than that to filling out the slots, and there's actually a lot of detriment in that you have no upgrade potential and you can potentially have more instability.

 

Generally speaking the answer to what is the best number of DIMMs is what is the number of channels. For dual channel, that means two. Two is virtually always better than four.

[Rob_dog]

18 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

just wanna remind you that 3600 may not even work in single rank, officially it supports 3200

so going dual rank probably isnt gonna help with that

What do you mean by "it's not gonna work?" I understand it's not on my motherboard QVL but what would you mean by "It wouldn't work"

[Rob_dog]

Just now, Chris Pratt said:

At 32GB, you're running four ranks either way. There is no benefit other than that to filling out the slots, and there's actually a lot of detriment in that you have no upgrade potential and you can potentially have more instability.

 

Generally speaking the answer to what is the best number of DIMMs is what is the number of channels. For dual channel, that means two. Two is virtually always better than four.

Ok, thanks.

[Moonzy]

21 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

At 32GB, you're running four ranks either way

how?

 

21 minutes ago, Rob_dog said:

What do you mean by "it's not gonna work?" I understand it's not on my motherboard QVL but what would you mean by "It wouldn't work"

motherboard may support it, but CPU officially only supports 3200, over that is an overclock

[Rob_dog]

25 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

how?

 

motherboard may support it, but CPU officially only supports 3200, over that is an overclock

Doesn't Ryzen prefer higher memory speeds?

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, Rob_dog said:

Doesn't Ryzen prefer higher memory speeds?

yeap

but officially it only supports up to 3200

any faster than that is overclock

 

most CPU can handle 3600 at single rank dual channel, so far that i've seen

but i've also seen cpu that refuse to go above 3200