a few noon questions about RAM

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Rhyseee

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Feb 2, 2012
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Hi guys im using the Asus maximus viii hero and I've purchased corsair vengence 2 x 8gb of ram , would there have been any difference if I went 4 x 4gb?

I'm just little confused with what dual channel is and also why these two options which equal the same gb have differences?
 
Solution
Tradesman1
You've got the Z170 Hero (great mobo by the way, I've got one also, in sig), 2x8GB is slightly better than 4x4GB - less stress on the MC, and can allow for slightly better OCing (both of DRAM and CPU), Dual channel itself can provide up to a 10-15% performance increase over single channel - so if choices are a 1x16GB ---2x8GB --- or 4x4GB, then 2x8GB is preferred.

When first installed the DRAM will go to the mobos default of 2133, from there you go into BIOS and enable XMP and select profile 1 which will set the DRAM up for you, rather painless overall ;)
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John_234

John_234

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ram operates best at dual channel, you would be best doing 2 x 8gb and if you need to upgrade in the future go to 4 x 8gb, although that would be very unlikely unless you are a video editor.
 
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azaran

azaran

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Feb 17, 2010
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You'd be running Dual Channel if you run 2x8GB or 4x4GB, so long as they're matched pairs in the channels. The only difference is really its make upgrading later more of an issue if you have 16GB (4x4GB) and you wanted to go to 32GB (4x8GB) you'd have to swap out the memory for 8GB sticks.
 
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azaran

azaran

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But for full disclosure, running 2x8GB is less stressful on the system than 4x4GB. Using only two sticks of RAM will put less strain on the memory controller and since the system is only accessing 2 sticks instead of 4 sticks of RAM there will be less latency (by measurements of nanoseconds). The only way you'd notice any difference is via extensive benchmarking.
 
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maxinexus

maxinexus

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In theory quad<dual<single channel performance. In practice they are about the same quad=dual=single. There is really insignificant change among these. What really matters is the latency. The smaller modules have usually better timings and are better overclockers. However, some motherboards may have some issues when you populate all memory banks and performance is decreased for some reason. Going 2x8 is great. Overall, memory is the least noticeable in gaming benchmarks. The difference between 1866 and 2133 is miniscule like 1 fps. The most performance that you will notice in games is in upgrading your VGA.
 
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blazorthon

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Sep 24, 2010
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In a dual-channel motherboard, if all else is equal, having 4 modules can give slightly higher performance due to slightly improved interleaving, but the end result is that 4 modules usually need slightly looser secondary timings (at best) to work compared to two modules due to increased strain on the memory controller, so it kinda evens out in most situations.

In no situation is there anything more than an insignificantly small performance difference between dual channel with two modules and dual channel with four modules, assuming the same or similarly rated modules are used for each configuration. Dual channel with four modules is useful for increasing memory capacity and not much else.
 
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John_234

John_234

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Normally when you insert your ram you have to configure it in the BIOS and restart your system before it runs at its correct mhz. They normally default to 1333mhz before you adjust the value.
 
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azaran

azaran

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Read up on it in your manual. In theory the bios settings are simple for configuring the XMP profile for RAM but the Maximus Hero line is designed around people who want the most control out of their system so the settings can be a bit convoluted compared to other motherboard BIOSs.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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You've got the Z170 Hero (great mobo by the way, I've got one also, in sig), 2x8GB is slightly better than 4x4GB - less stress on the MC, and can allow for slightly better OCing (both of DRAM and CPU), Dual channel itself can provide up to a 10-15% performance increase over single channel - so if choices are a 1x16GB ---2x8GB --- or 4x4GB, then 2x8GB is preferred.

When first installed the DRAM will go to the mobos default of 2133, from there you go into BIOS and enable XMP and select profile 1 which will set the DRAM up for you, rather painless overall ;)
 
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Solution
azaran

azaran

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They finally made the XMP profiles easy? I had to setup some X87/97 boards in the past and the memory section always seemed overly complex for doing basic setup.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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XMP has been like that for years, generally if there's a problem it might be that the BIOS hasn't been updated for a given set, one of the big things though is people thinking that the mobo determines what DRAM - and while the mobo plays in, it's the MC in the CPU that is the true determining factor. We see people all the time ask about DRAM and get answers like "Yes - your mobo supports 3200, get it" and the person has like a locked i3 or i5 which has no chance at all of running 3200 (at least at 3200). Another problemn that often comes up with 'XMP' is it's use on AMD mobos - the AMD manufactures often take the XMP profile an modify it to loosen the CL and often other timings to work better with the weaker MCs of AMD CPUs
 
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