Overclock.net banner

16 GB in dual channel vs. 12 GB in triple channel

1K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  Sje5562a 
#1 ·
My Asus Rampage IV motherboard has a defective DIMM slot, so I can not run memory in quad channel. The RAM is a Corsair 16 GB quad channel kit. The board has 2 slots per channel (8 slots in total) so it leaves me with some options. Which of the following would be most beneficial for everyday use? I do a little bit of everything: gaming, video editing, heavy multitasking etc.

Option 1: Running all 4 RAM sticks (16 GB) in dual channel by putting 2 memory sticks in channel A and 2 sticks in channel B.

Option 2: Running 3 RAM sticks (12 GB) in triple channel by putting 1 memory stick each in channel A, B and C.

Channel D is the defective one so nothing gets detected in that one. And it is not possible to populate secondary D slot before the primary one.

I guess the TL;DR version is: Is more memory generally better than an extra channel or vice versa?
 
#2 ·
From what I can see, Triple channel does give your a fairly sizable boost in memory performance but that only help with memory intensive applications. You could always put it in 16GB dual channel and keep an eye on usage over X amount of time. If you find that your no where close to 12GB memory usage during that, switch over to 12GB triple channel.
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by NexusRed View Post

From what I can see, Triple channel does give your a fairly sizable boost in memory performance but that only help with memory intensive applications. You could always put it in 16GB dual channel and keep an eye on usage over X amount of time. If you find that your no where close to 12GB memory usage during that, switch over to 12GB triple channel.
I think the most I have seen is around 12 GB of usage on my system but it is usually way below that. But doesn't Windows do memory management depending on the amount of RAM installed anyway? If you have, say 32 GB installed, then more ram would be used "natively" than if you would have 16 GB installed?

Another thought is that system requirements for games and software usually specify an amount of RAM rather than speed/channels. For example "At least 8 GB required."

So I'm trying to figure out which is better for mixed everyday use. I guess I will try to run it in triple channel for now. Does anyone know if timings would be messed up if you only run 3 out of 4 sticks in a quad channel kit?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top