1x8gb stick or 2x4gb stick (upgrade 16gb in future)

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 8, 2014

Ok. So I do not know whether to get 1x8gb of ram now or 2x4gb. I was originally going to go for the 2x4gb. However I came across a newegg combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1727854 that made it cheaper than what I was planning to buy: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gzddrH
It's only a $10 difference but it got me thinking because I wanted to go 16gb in the future if possible. So I was wondering whether 2x8gb is better than 4x4 gb. Also would like to know if there's any huge difference between the mobos too as I plan to oc in the future. I'll just post my questions again below so that they're easier to track.
QUESTIONS:
1) Should I get 1x8 gb or 2x4 gb now if I plan to get more ram sticks in the future for 16 gb ram? (4x4 vs 2x8)
2) Is there a big performance difference between the two setups?
3) I know this is a memory thread, but which motherboard is better? (In terms of upgradability and OC)
Thanks in advance for helping. Sorry if it seems really sloppy/unclear title. I'm on mobile right now and for some reason my brain doesn't work as good as it does when I'm on pc.

JoshuaPinto · Jul 8, 2014

the more sticks you have the better. because it will get split up between the two

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 8, 2014

JoshuaPinto :

Yeah, so 2x4gb>1x8gb, but is 4x4gb>2x8gb?

Tradesman1 · Jul 8, 2014

2x4GB is better than 1x8GB as it allows the DRAM to run in dual channel which can be up to a 10-15% performance increase, on the other hand, 2x8GB is preferred to 4x4GB as either will still run in dual channel but the 2x8GB is less stress on the MC (memory controller) than running 4 sticks

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 8, 2014

Tradesman1 :

I was reading something about CAS frequencies or something. I didn't really understand it well but like its good to have something like 1600/8. Does that affect performance that much? Like the 2x4 is 2133/10 and 1x8 is 1600/10. Anyone care to explain what this is to me? This is gonna be my first build so don't know alot off stuff. Thanks

Tradesman1 · Jul 8, 2014

With DRAM you look for a COMBINATION of low CL and high freq...for High performance sticks look for

1600/7 1866/8 2133/9 2400/10 2666/11

For decent basic sticks 1600/8-9, 1866/9 2133/10 2400/11 2666/12

would pass on sticks 1600-1866 with a CLof 10 or higher, 2133 w/ 11 or higher and 2400 at 12

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 9, 2014

Hmm. Do you have one that you could show me that's good and not that expensive.

Tradesman1 · Jul 9, 2014

2x4GB or 2x8GB or.... and budget..... other's may jump in also, I need to grab some sleep need to be up and moving in about 5 hours

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 9, 2014

All good. As I've said before I'll be upgrading 16 gb in the future. And it seems that I should be getting 2x8 for that. So a good 1x8 stick (or 2x4 if 4x4 is better). About budget, I'll just post my build tomorrow as you may be able to edit things to make it cheaper -> more money available for RAM. Anyways gonna go to sleep I'll post more tomorrow.

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 9, 2014

Meh don't know how to edit on mobile. I think I'll just gut 2x4 as I think about it I don't really need 16gb for gaming as this is what this build will be mostly used for

Tradesman1 · Jul 9, 2014

2x4GB might look at the GSkill Snipers in 1866/9

rhapdog · Jul 9, 2014

Let me explain something that seems to not be mentioned yet.

When you purchase memory for your motherboard, it is best to go ahead and purchase the amount you thing you will need to upgrade to later. Mixing memory modules will not always work, even if you buy the same brand and specifications.

You need to get your memory in a kit. Like a 4 stick kit, 2 stick kit, however many you plan to use. If you just buy 2 sticks now, and want to add 2 later, you could have conflicts that prevent them from working together properly. Or if you buy one now, and plan to buy another one later, they may not work together properly and you won't get dual channel operation out of them.

Kits are sold where the 2 sticks are usually consecutive serial numbers, but always have to be part of the same manufacturing lot number, to ensure compatibility.

I'd say the NewEgg.com combo isn't as good a deal simply because it will give you single channel memory and the upgrade path would require you to replace the one stick you have with a kit, so you may as well flush $80 down the toilet.

At least the PC Partpicker list will allow you to run the memory in dual-channel mode, which will allow for faster memory operation, which will be better all around.

You would be surprised at how long it will be before you really need to upgrade to 16GB. I have 16GB, just because I wanted to make sure I didn't have those compatibility issues with a future upgrade. However, it is rare that I use more than 3GB of what I have. Only when I use professional, 64-bit rendering software where I am rendering for production grade Blu-ray do I use more than 5GB of my RAM. I usually keep most of it available as a RAM drive for temporary files and such, since it's way faster than my SSD.

Bottom line is, before you need more than 8GB of RAM, you are also likely to need to upgrade the whole compute again anyway, and get DDR4, 5, or 6 (or whatever is available at that time.)

JoshuaPinto · Jul 9, 2014

yeah. get 2X4GB sticks. or get 2X8gb sticks so later on you could just get another 2X8GB sticks and have 32GB ram. but you wont need 32GB RAM for a long time.

DroneDroneDrone · Jul 9, 2014

Thanks for the responses. So I have added the G.Skill Sniper RAM into my build and figured I might as well post it here for refinement. First build is: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/frequ/saved/XPK2FT but for $10 more I can get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/frequ/saved/8rmFf7
This is my first ever build as I've never built a pc before and only bought prebuilts

before. Decided to try and build one as people said it would be cheaper/better. Anyways my originally build was a budget cpu(fx6300) paired with a good GPU (r9 280). But I decided to instead go with a good cpu (i5 4670k/4690k) with a meh GPU (r7 250). I will be OCing, don't known if these mobos are good for OCing though. As said before this build will be mostly for gaming, but will also be used for schoolwork, streaming. I also have a question as on the mobos it says what type of ram it supports but it says OC (which I assume is (overclock/ed) and I don't really know what it means. Like does it mean I can oc the ram to that speed or that I have to mess around with the mobo settings to be able to use those types if RAM.

JoshuaPinto · Jul 10, 2014

DroneDroneDrone :

Thanks for the responses. So I have added the G.Skill Sniper RAM into my build and figured I might as well post it here for refinement. First build is: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/frequ/saved/XPK2FT but for $10 more I can get this: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/frequ/saved/8rmFf7
This is my first ever build as I've never built a pc before and only bought prebuilts

before. Decided to try and build one as people said it would be cheaper/better. Anyways my originally build was a budget cpu(fx6300) paired with a good GPU (r9 280). But I decided to instead go with a good cpu (i5 4670k/4690k) with a meh GPU (r7 250). I will be OCing, don't known if these mobos are good for OCing though. As said before this build will be mostly for gaming, but will also be used for schoolwork, streaming. I also have a question as on the mobos it says what type of ram it supports but it says OC (which I assume is (overclock/ed) and I don't really know what it means. Like does it mean I can oc the ram to that speed or that I have to mess around with the mobo settings to be able to use those types if RAM.

Yes you can OC pretty much anything

rhapdog · Jul 10, 2014

JoshuaPinto :

??? Of course you can overclock RAM. Do a search here on Tom's, because people are doing it all the time. I do it myself. You can overclock CPU, RAM, GPU, Front Side Bus, and so much more.

My RAM is overclocked to 2250MHz with no issues. Originally it was set at 1333MHz, and rated for OCing to 1866+. I got lucky and was able to go higher.

JoshuaPinto · Jul 14, 2014

rhapdog :

Realy!? that is awesome. as long as ive been working with PCs ive never given a thought to OCing RAM. I knew you could do it to CPU and GPU, but ive never heard of the RAM. that is cool. thanks for sharing.

Tradesman1 · Jul 14, 2014

If you need any help, give us a shout

1x8gb stick or 2x4gb stick (upgrade 16gb in future)

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