Kevari: performance dropoff with single stick of RAM vs double?

[mitya33]

Hi

I'm looking at a system that has an A10 Kevari 7850K.

The only thing is there's no option for dual ram - only 1x8gb. Will this be an issue? I've read that Kevari performance drops off significantly if there's only a single stick of RAM. Can anyone confirm this, or is it an edge case?

The PC would be mainly for web dev (so nothing intensive) but occasional, casual gaming would be nice. Nothing cutting edge, though I quite fancy the new Wolfenstein if that will run at all.

I DO have the option of going 2x8gb, but that's far more RAM than I need (?) and £50 more.

Thanks in advance

 

[RobCrezz]

When gaming, there will be a big performance difference. Ideally you want dual channel high speed ram (for the IGPU), preferrably 1866mhz ram or faster.

 

[mitya33]

Thanks. I did read up about RAM speed and the consensus seemed to be that, in all but edge cases, the difference e.g. 2133 vs 1600 will be rarely noticed. Your answer suggests the opposite. I also read that the top-end speed may not even be utilised by the system, but this isn't my area of expertise.

So what's more important with a Kevari: dual RAM, or single RAM with higher mhz?

 

[RobCrezz]

Thanks. I did read up about RAM speed and the consensus seemed to be that, in all but edge cases, the difference e.g. 2133 vs 1600 will be rarely noticed. Your answer suggests the opposite. I also read that the top-end speed may not even be utilised by the system, but this isn't my area of expertise.

So what's more important with a Kevari: dual RAM, or single RAM with higher mhz?

Using a regular CPU, that is correct. APUs are the exception - Because they dont have their own fast vram (unlike a descrite graphics card which will have super fast DDR5 on the card), the on chip graphics is hugely reliant on having fast system RAM.

If you plan to play games, you want dual channel fast ram, not one or the other.

 

[mitya33]

Thanks. But if cost prohibited both, is it not possible to say which of the two is preferable? I've just looked at the configs and I can have 2x4gb 1600, or 1x8 2133.

 

[RobCrezz]

Thanks. But if cost prohibited both, is it not possible to say which of the two is preferable? I've just looked at the configs and I can have 2x4gb 1600, or 1x8 2133.

2x 4gb 1600 would be better.

Dual channel doubles the bandwidth, so would be better than a single stick at higher speed. If its good quality ram you might be able to overclock it - my corsair ram is rated at 1600, but I run it at 1866 no problem.

 

[mitya33]

Great, thanks.