A quick question about RAM.

[njc9728]

Just a quick question  that I've struggled to find any clear answers to. Say I have one 8gb stick of DDR4 at 2400MHz. Say that I then go out and buy a completely brand new 16gb (2x8) kit at 2400MHz and install that in dual channel. Is there any disadvantage in putting the other 8gb stick I originally had into one of the two remaining DIMM slots? Will this impact performance either way? I've seen videos showing the difference between single channel and dual channel RAM when it comes to gaming performance so I was wondering what kind of impact this might have. Also, what if the new RAM kit wasn't 2400MHz, say 3000MHz, what would we see then?

 

I know you might have a lot of questions about the specifics of my build but I haven't actually started buying (except for 1 8gb stick of RAM I got because I had to use up some expiring trade in vouchers at a used parts store). Let's say the motherboard will likely be a B350 or X370 chipset, dual channel.

 

Thanks in advance. Fairly new to this.

 

Edit: realise now that I probably should have put this in the hardware forum.

[SolarNova]

Can you not buy another single 8gb stick ontop the new 2x8 gb set. ? That way u can run 4x8 in dual channel.

 

In 'some' games it will make a significant difference, the most well documented one being GTA 5 Single channel vs dual channel.

In others it will make zero difference.

[Mohit Kumar]

You don't have a Triple Channel motherboard. They have three or six memory slots.

By adding a third stick you will be in SINGLE CHANNEL MODE which will reduce the speed by which the memory can communicate to the CPU. This probably will reduce performance slightly but it depends on how fast your memory AND CPU are.

You can't be in Dual on two and Single on the other. All memory must be communicating at the same speed. In fact, your MOTHERBOARD MANUAL actually shows you accepted configurations which are usually ONE, TWO, or FOUR sticks but not three (and for one and two you can have issues if you don't use the recommended slots.)

If this is for GAMES, then 8GB is already plenty.

*You'd likely be SLOWING DOWN your system with no advantage.

I got this information from browsing the net. You should have googled it first. 

[njc9728]

Yeah that was something I considered but it comes down to cost. I'm basically trying to weigh up whether it would be worth it, or whether I should buy a completely brand new kit at a higher speed and just sell the single stick I have. Also, If I had two (2x8) kits but at different speeds, how would they run? Or would they just both work at the lower speed?

[njc9728]

Thanks Mohit, that makes sense.

 

Btw, I did mention in the first line that I hadn't found clear answers. I have obviously done some searching but heard different things. I didn't think it would be hurting anybody to ask here.

 

Thanks again

 

[SolarNova]

22 hours ago, njc9728 said:

Yeah that was something I considered but it comes down to cost. I'm basically trying to weigh up whether it would be worth it, or whether I should buy a completely brand new kit at a higher speed and just sell the single stick I have. Also, If I had two (2x8) kits but at different speeds, how would they run? Or would they just both work at the lower speed?

If you bought 2 sets at different speeds it would be best to run them at the slower speeds.

 

However you can 'overclock' RAM. technicaly most ram you find for sale is factory overclocked, what you would be doing is simply going further, however this would require testing and is not garanteed to work.

 

If you did just buy a 2x8 GB set, then sell your single 8gb stick, no point in just leaving it to collect dust, used DDR4 ram if priced right will be snapped up quick.