I5 CPU requires 3 sticks of memory?

[freeman_saf]

A friend of mine was giving me advice on some computer components. I was asking for some CPU recommendations and after some price checking decided on an Intel Core i5.

He said to buy memory for this processor in sticks of 3. Is this a requirement? I haven't been able to find if it was online anywhere. I was just planning on getting two sticks of 2gb memory (4gb). Is this fine? The memory he suggested is costly, and I'm trying to decrease cost.

 

[tecmo34]

An i5 is a dual-channel setup so you want multiples of two. Your friend is thinking about the i7's on the LGA 1366 socket which uses triple-channel (sets of 3). Your CPU will be on the LGA 1156 socket (sets of 2).

 

[freeman_saf]

Thanks for the reply. He originally said that about the i7 which was in my first build, but was to expensive so I had to drop down to i5. He said the same thing about the i5 which is why I wanted to make sure.

Thanks for clearing it up.

 

[tecmo34]

If you can buy from Newegg.com, I highly recommend these...
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM

 

[freeman_saf]

Best answer selected by freeman_saf.