confused about ram

[Guest]

Hey guys,
 

so linus had a video out a while ago explaining ram, but im still a bit confused because im a newbie

So on a dual channel board, like one of the Z87 boards with 4 ram slots, with two different colours for each alternating slot, you should run say a 4x4gb ram kit rather than two 2x4gb kit? (if you wanted 16gb)

I get confused with buying ram too, so if it is a dual channel board, I can run 4 slots of ram but only if it comes in the 4 pack, like a 4x4gb, but I cant just put two 2x4gb kits together?

Sorry if this sounds retarded I just get a bit confused with all the terms and everything





 

[unidentical]

Common wisdom is that ideally you should populate the same number of slots as you have memory channels. 

 

So in a dual channel board you should only populate 2 of the slots.

 

This isn't really necessary, As i understand it, it's simply less work for the memory controller so maybe it let's you sneak in a slightly better OC or runs ever so slightly cooler.

 

There is nothing wrong with running 4 dimms though, it will still work just fine.

[FloRolf]

Hey guys,

 

so linus had a video out a while ago explaining ram, but im still a bit confused because im a newbie

So on a dual channel board, like one of the Z87 boards with 4 ram slots, with two different colours for each alternating slot, you should run say a 4x4gb ram kit rather than two 2x4gb kit? (if you wanted 16gb)

I get confused with buying ram too, so if it is a dual channel board, I can run 4 slots of ram but only if it comes in the 4 pack, like a 4x4gb, but I cant just put two 2x4gb kits together?

Sorry if this sounds retarded I just get a bit confused with all the terms and everything

 

 

sure you can put 2 2x4gb sticks in your mobo but its better to run a 4x4gb kit because the different dimms are optimized for each other. The best for 16gb however would be a 2x8gb kit.

[mvitkun]

So on a dual channel board, like one of the Z87 boards with 4 ram slots, with two different colours for each alternating slot, you should run say a 4x4gb ram kit rather than two 2x4gb kit? (if you wanted 16gb)

on a dual channel board it's best to populate either 2 slots or all 4 slots.

on a triple channel board it's best to popluate either 3 slots or all 6 slots.

on a quad channel board it's best to populate either 4 slots or all 8 slots.

 

I get confused with buying ram too, so if it is a dual channel board, I can run 4 slots of ram but only if it comes in the 4 pack, like a 4x4gb, but I cant just put two 2x4gb kits together?

you can buy 2x(2x4GB) kits and there shouldn't be any issues provided that they both run at the same frequencies and have the same CAS latency.

 

the times you want to avoid mixing ram,to a higher extent,is when you are trying to run in a quad channel board.because running two kits of ram that were not tested for quad channel mode,in quad channel mode can result in not running at their rated frequency,rated latency,or rated voltage

 

sometimes mixing kits can cause BSODs,but typically it just causes them not to run at marketed speeds.

[MPX309]

Anyone else agree RAM has gone more expensive in the last few months?

[Zeal]

RAM tends to go up during the summer time as manufacturers start devoting more of their Flash chips into memory cards for cameras...