Questions from a beginner

[JohnCarlHenry]

Is there any difference between a dual channel and a single channel ram?(assuming they both have the same total GB, have the same speed and latency)

[Sernefarian]

1 minute ago, JohnCarlHenry said:

Is there any difference between a dual channel and a single channel ram?(assuming they both have the same total GB, have the same speed and latency)

From what I have read at the same clock and latency the Single Rank RAM modules will slightly outperform the dual rank kits.

[Jurrunio]

dual channel RAM get nearly double the transfer rate, assuming your assumption means the performance of each stick is identical.

4 minutes ago, Sernefarian said:

From what I have read at the same clock and latency the Single Rank RAM modules will slightly outperform the dual rank kits.

rank is different from channel

[Sernefarian]

DOH! ... my prior statement is still true though.

 

a 1x8 Gig stick(single channel) compared to 2x4 gig sticks(dual channel) will have the 2x4 gig sticks performing better than the 1x8 gig stick. Perhaps as much as the difference between a 3000MHz 1x8 gig stick and a 3200 Mhz 1x8 Gig stick, assuming equally tight timings for the single channel stick's clock speeds.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Sernefarian
clicked the wrong thing lmao.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

This is a good read: https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1664/~/what-is-dual-channel-mem

 

In a nutshell, it allows two lanes for memory access compared to a single lane like Single Channel operation. Theoretically doubling memory performance.

[Jurrunio]

6 minutes ago, Sernefarian said:

Perhaps as much as the difference between a 3000MHz 1x8 gig stick and a 3200 Mhz 1x8 Gig stick, assuming equally tight timings for the single channel stick's clock speeds.

actually more than that. Single channel vs dual channel is like 2 drives in RAID 1 vs 2 drives in RAID 0, you theoretically get double the performance, but realistically dont because splitting things in half takes time.

[Sernefarian]

You live you learn. Bench link @ 2133 MHZ with the same timings.

 

http://ram.userbenchmark.com/Compare/HyperX-Fury-DDR4-2133-C14-2x4GB-vs-HyperX-Fury-DDR4-2133-C14-1x8GB/3554vs3555

 

~74% more performance for that particular kit. Possibly controller efficiency at play?