RAM for ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS Dual LGA 2011 Intel Motherboard

saquist,

I hope this will answer your questions>

-I don't understand the concept of the modules.

-I'm not sure what the 4x8 RAM means in terms of the modules or how much each stick is and how that will apply to each CPU and so I still am not sure of what I need.

___ I am suggesting that you buy four modules, or "sticks" of RAM that are each eight Gigabyte capacity and of 1866 speed.

I need to get 32Gigs now and allow for a sizeable RAM upgrade later...
(64 or 96

___ In my view, the 32GB of RAM is a minimal amount for this system. [The motherboard will support up to 256GB of RAM (=8 X (times) 32GB)]. Because there are eight RAM slots on the motherboard, the choice of 4 times 8GB (32GB) to start with will allow additional RAM to be added later in the four open slots. Of course, if you started with 8 X 4GB to make the 32GB, all the slots would be filled and later on you'd have to throw away some or all of the 4GB modules to increase the total amount. If you start with 4 X 8GB and then buy another 4 X 8GB modules in the future, that will add 32GB to the original 32GB or a total of 64GB. If you buy 4 X 16GB (four times sixteen Gigabyte) modules in the future, that will add 64GB to the original 32GB or a total of 96GB. There is such a thing as 1 X 32GB modules- but very expensive (sometimes over $1,000 each), so conceivably you could add 4 X 32GB or 128GB to whatever you start with. Because this motherboard is optimized to use four modules,as a "set" the best solution will be to end up with eight of the same size, speed, and brand of RAM. You can not mix speeds, so if you start with 1866 don't add 1600 later or it will all run at 1600. If you are going to have more than 64GB of RAM in this system, the best solution will be to use all 16GB modules or 8 X 16GB =128GB. Otherwise, I'd say 8 X 8GB =64GB, but as mentioned you can have mix sizes and have four of one size and four of another. That's what I use in my Hp z420 with 8 RAM slots- 4 X 4GB plus 4 X 2GB to make a total of 24GB, and all is HP branded Samsung 1600 speed ECC.

__I'm also recommending that the brand and model of RAM should be selected from the ASUS list of RAM that has been tested with the ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS motherboard.

-I don't understand how the RAM is divided

___ When building the system, the four modules will need to be arranged symmetrically so that each of the CPU's will have one, two, or four modules. If you look at the motherboard, you will see that there are two sets of four slots, each set of four slots relating to each of the two CPU sockets. The motherboard manual will have a diagram of which slots to use and in which order they are filled.

-I don't understand ECC vs Non ECC for my needs.

___ ECC means that the RAM is "error correcting"- it actually tests the accuracy of each bit of the data stream for errors. This constant checking of the precision can be very important for providing accuracy in predictive /analytical ;scientific and financial applications, and certain kinds of complex image processing, especially rendering and effects processing, animation, and simulations involving shadows, reflections, smoke, water, gas flow, and so on. In other words, the RAM keeps checking that the data stream doesn't accumulate errors and images don't have artifacts or misplaced shadows or particles. As you mention using two GTX 580's, and plenty of RAM, I'm guessing that you may be doing video editing,/effects processing and/or rendering / animation. With Xeon CPU's a workstation motherboard, and those uses, I would definitely recommend ECC.

Very good choices for the major components- because I use viewport and CAD software like Solidworks, I use Quadro graphics cards, but the 580 is my favorite GTX. By the way, keep in mind that some workstation applications - such as some by Adobe and Autodesk can't address multiple GPU's unless the system is certified for SLI.

Yes, complicated stuff!

Cheers,

BambiBoom