2x2gb vs 4x2gb gaming.

Klobber

Distinguished
Dec 22, 2011
2
0
18,510
Alright well I just recently decided to upgrade my RAM from 2x2GB to 4x2GB. I don't know the real reason why I upgraded.
Probably because I found my same RAM on newegg for cheap & my OCD told me more is better. Now that I'm reading more into it I'm not sure that's the case. I don't do any rendering or heavy photoshoping.80% of the time I'm on my comp its gaming & Iv heard that running 4 sticks can actually hinder data loading in games but not gameplay performance.
I have heard mixed opinions on this matter & not sure what i should do. I don't want to stress my motherboard in anyway.
That being said some of the opinions Iv been hearing are:
Take out 1 stick & run 6gigs in single channel.
Take out 2 sticks & run 4gigs.
Keep the 8gigs in you wont see any problem nor will it stress the motherboard.
My specs.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103894&Tpk=amd%20phenom%20ii%20x4%20970%20black%20edition%20deneb%203.5ghz%204

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128395

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211560

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661

Don't know very much on this stuff. Any info or opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
Solution
If your pc boots and runs fine with the 8GB might as well stick with it, the worst case scenario is that you'll see no increase. Now, if you start to get bsods, stuttering, or unusual behavior then go back to 4GB as the extra 4 really isn't going to effect performance. The big obstacle is getting the 2 additional dimms to play friendly with the existing dimms. If that's the case though, no sense in going back.

a4mula

Distinguished
Feb 3, 2009
973
0
19,160
If your pc boots and runs fine with the 8GB might as well stick with it, the worst case scenario is that you'll see no increase. Now, if you start to get bsods, stuttering, or unusual behavior then go back to 4GB as the extra 4 really isn't going to effect performance. The big obstacle is getting the 2 additional dimms to play friendly with the existing dimms. If that's the case though, no sense in going back.
 
Solution
The 4 sticks thing comes from overclocking by means of Base Clock.....like when overclocking the 920, ya might go for 200 BCLK and find that with 4 sticks, ya might have to drop memory speed or CAS timings in order to keep ya 50% OC stable. Never an issue at "stock" timings.