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4 dimms in dual channel? safe for mem controller?

PCMasterGuy
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is it safe to use 4 dimms in dual channel? by safe I mean I've heard that it can strain the memory controller on the cpu. What does that mean? will it reduce the life span of my cpu or other components? also is there a noticeable performance loss for normal application such as gaming, using programs ect vs quad channel, or is this just in benchmarks or for enthusiasts? I'm just an average user, so will I notice any difference in dual vs quad channel?

 

 

Thanks.

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If you are on a new build just get two sticks but thats just to have an upgrade path. It's totally safe and will not influence your performance at all. 

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Just now, FloRolf said:

If you are on a new build just get two sticks but thats just to have an upgrade path. It's totally safe and will not influence your performance at all. 

I already bought 4 dimms. When you say it's safe and will not influence my performance do you mean that it's safe to use all four of them?

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Perfectly safe, unless you're on Ryzen where the bandwidth will be reduced to 2133MHz and relying on manual overclocking. It will not reduce the life-span of your hardware. 

 

Dual vs Quad-channel doesn't show many improvements so you're best looking for faster speeds and lower CAS timings for best results.

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how important is speed when it comes to gaming? I'm not looking to overclock anything btw... I think mine is 2600mhz

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10 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Dual vs Quad-channel

4 dimms does not mean quad channel, each memory channel can hold 2 dimms.

 

As for OP, it won't damage any components, but it may hamper overclocking potential. On intel ram speeds don't matter much, with ryzen high ram speed is a large improvement in all use cases

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5 minutes ago, Cyracus said:

4 dimms does not mean quad channel, each memory channel can hold 2 dimms.

 

Nor did he say it meant quad channel.  

 

5 minutes ago, Cyracus said:

As for OP, it won't damage any components, but it may hamper overclocking potential. On intel ram speeds don't matter much, with ryzen high ram speed is a large improvement in all use cases

 

RAM speed matters on every platform.  What it impacts varies, but it still matters.  

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13 minutes ago, Cyracus said:

4 dimms does not mean quad channel, each memory channel can hold 2 dimms.

Fully aware of that. I added a little more info due to:

 

36 minutes ago, PCMasterGuy said:

I'm just an average user, so will I notice any difference in dual vs quad channel?

 

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6 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Fully aware of that. I added a little more info due to:

didn't realize I forgot to quote the OP as well, well I guess they're pretty likely to get the message xD

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Thanks for the answers. I'm using intel btw. Only reason I went with four dimms is I just think it looks so much better not to have two dimm slots unoccupied :P

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