RAM help

[Fluffybakon]

Hello all,

 

So im going to be building my first pc in 3-4 weeks time, and i have all my parts chosen out apart from ram. I dont really understand how RAM works. What does dual channel and quad channel mean? Can i buy one stick, and then add another, or do i have to buy a kit of 2 sticks. Im going to be running an r5 1600 and 8gb (2x4) of corsair vengeance lpx 3200mhz. Can i add 8 more gb (2x4) of the same ram in the future, to make for 16gb, or do i need to buy a seperate 2x8? Does dual channel mean that there can only be 2 sticks?

 

thanks,

 

-Lukas

[DocSwag]

Dual channel refers to how much bandwidth the CPU can do. Basically, if you're CPU supports dual channel it means it can talk to two "channels" of ram at the same time.

 

Say you had two sticks of ram, each running at 3000 MHz. Since your CPU supports dual channel, it can talk to both ram sticks at the same time, technically doubling the bandwidth your CPU has to your ram compared to if you had one stick of ram.

 

However, if you had four sticks of ram, all running at 3000 MHz, with a dual channel CPU, bandwidth would still be the same as if you had two sticks. Remember, your CPU is dual channel, so it can only talk to sticks of ram at a time. Your CPU will treat two sticks of ram as one channel, so to the CPU it seems like you have two larger sticks of ram. Bandwidth is still the same as if you had two sticks of ram.

 

Quad channel is basically dual channel except your CPU can talk to four sticks of ram at the same time.

 

You can buy 2x4gb right now, and later on if you need more ram you could buy another one if the same kit, add it in, and you would have 16gb.

 

It is also possible for you to only have one ram stick, your CPU would just have half the bandwidth compared to two (you only have one stick, so only of your CPUs channels are "occupied").

[Fluffybakon]

14 hours ago, DocSwag said:

Dual channel refers to how much bandwidth the CPU can do. Basically, if you're CPU supports dual channel it means it can talk to two "channels" of ram at the same time.

 

Say you had two sticks of ram, each running at 3000 MHz. Since your CPU supports dual channel, it can talk to both ram sticks at the same time, technically doubling the bandwidth your CPU has to your ram compared to if you had one stick of ram.

 

However, if you had four sticks of ram, all running at 3000 MHz, with a dual channel CPU, bandwidth would still be the same as if you had two sticks. Remember, your CPU is dual channel, so it can only talk to sticks of ram at a time. Your CPU will treat two sticks of ram as one channel, so to the CPU it seems like you have two larger sticks of ram. Bandwidth is still the same as if you had two sticks of ram.

 

Quad channel is basically dual channel except your CPU can talk to four sticks of ram at the same time.

 

You can buy 2x4gb right now, and later on if you need more ram you could buy another one if the same kit, add it in, and you would have 16gb.

 

It is also possible for you to only have one ram stick, your CPU would just have half the bandwidth compared to two (you only have one stick, so only of your CPUs channels are "occupied").

Ok, thanks a lot

 

Ill get 2x4 of corsair vengeance now, and then later add another 2x4 once i have the money and feel the need.

 

Thanks a lot for the response :D,

 

-Lukas