[.:hybrid:.]

Hello

I am contemplating building a new pc. My mobo will probably be the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H

I want 8Gb of RAM.

I was wondering if there are any differences between 2 x 4 or 4 x 2? Assuming price is the same for both sets, which has better performance?

 

[Boyd]

2 x 4GB ram is basically two chips of ram, and each chip has 4 gigs of ram. thats a total of 8 Gigs.

and

4 x 2GB is four chips of ram with 2 GB memory on each. thats also a total of 8 Gigs.

I would prefer going with 2 x 4 GB because since you will only be using two chips instead of a full set of four you get to update in the future if necessary.

I hope that made sense to you

 

[svenge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by .:hybrid:.

Hello

I am contemplating building a new pc. My mobo will probably be the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H

I want 8Gb of RAM.

I was wondering if there are any differences between 2 x 4 or 4 x 2? Assuming price is the same for both sets, which has better performance?

The 2x4GB configuration will likely perform better (in terms of overclocking) because the memory controller and other related circuitry only has to operate 2 sticks instead of 4.

As an added bonus, if you ever feel like going up to 16GB you can just buy another 2x4GB kit and put them in the 2 remaining empty slots instead of having to discard/sell your existing RAM sticks were you to go 4x2GB.

 

[damnwebsite]

Quote from my friend about this issure - 'would you rather have 2 pizzas in 2 pans or four halves in 4four pans'
Get the 2x4, you'll have more headroom to buy more ram and dump em in

 

[ericeod]

There are some nice 2x4Gb kits with high clock speeds and great timings. There is an advantage to running 2 vs 4 modules because it puts less stress on your CPU's integrated memory controller. Of course as you get much higher density modules, like 8Gb, you tend to sacrifice latency (higher timings... which means slightly less performance). So while less modules are better, higher density (8Gb is now considered high density) can also mean less performance.

Right now its a win-win to go with 2x4Gb.

 

[IntelFanaTEK]

4x2gb is slower. Performs poorly with OC.

 

[shteklis]

"4x2gb is slower. Performs poorly with OC." (NOT TRUE!)

But it will not make it faster eather since your MOBO can only handle dual channel and not quad channel ram so 2 stiks will work the same as 4 so you wight as well get 2X4 just because it will allow you to have more free slots in case you would like to upgrade in the future