Hi,
I have two RAM slots on my motherboard which supports dual channel mode, so my initial thinking was buy 2 x 4GB sticks in order to take advantage of this dual channel mode. However I've heard mixed reviews when it comes to actual noticeable performance in games etc.
Therefore would I be better off going for just 1 8GB stick so that in a few years time say? I could easily upgrade to 16GB?
Any help is appreciated.
Depends on how long you are keeping the system, how long it'll take you to save up for the other stick and what you need it for really. Those are questions only you know the answer to.
What RAM is it anyway? DDR4 or DDR3, high frequency/ low frequency? I mean, if it is normal DDR3 then surely it isn't that much money to get a 16GB kit and if it is, would it take that long to be able to get another 8GB stick? It is somthing like $40 for an 8GB stick I think.
Agreed with Craigm.
Memory is changing over to DDR4, so buying DDR3 for an upgrade in a few years is a bad idea. It probably will be a lot more expensive than DDR4 by then (and slower, smaller etc).
I'm on a pretty tight budget, unfortunately :(. It will be DDR3 at 1600Mhz. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, will I see a performance increase by using 2 x 4GB in dual channel compared to using just 1 8GB stick?
Dual Channel is faster.
But, to be honest, I have run single sticks on my PC and wouldn't have known any difference unless I benched (I also had an SSD though).
I nearly forgot:
1600 is no longer good value... you see a lot of 2133 kits for a couple of $ more (in the UK anyway).
Depends on your requirements? I'm not convinced that games will saturate 8GB, therefore, I would stick with 2x4GB. If you're doing something far more intensive, then look toward 16GB.
My budget motherboard only supports upto 1600, Please note I am on a real tight budget here. cries
Just out of interest, what are your Specs?
Are you on AM1?
If you are, just get the cheapest set of whatever size you want (I'd go 8GB max - 16 is definitely over kill on AM1).
You don't have to worry about upgrades...
I'm in the process of planning all the components at the moment as well as sourcing the best deals. Please don't laugh :L I am on an extremely tight budget and have set myself the challenge of creating a "gaming" PC for around console money. I do not mind near console graphics/frame rates, however I expect any PC to outperform the consoles :P...
So far...
-Intel Pentium G3258 CPU (Dual Core 3.20GHz, Socket H3 LGA-1150) (Will be overclocked)
-MSI H81M-P33 Socket 1150 VGA DVI 8 Channel Audio mATX Motherboard
-RAM undecided until I know whether to get 2 x 4GB or 1 x 8GB, but will be 1600Mhz due to mobo.
-Graphics card undecided, however will be looking at cards around £100 mark so R7 260X up to a R9 270x as seen some bargains last weekend, however they all seem to have gone up in price again.
Is this setup is ment for gaming mainaly?
Because wenn its for gaming, there wont be much of a diffrence between single channel or dual channel memory configurations for that matter.
so i would grab an 8GB stick then probably.
But of course 2x4GB is also fine.
I can't laugh at that setup @goulddigger, it looks well balanced and that CPU overclocks well. I would go 2x 4GB because games just dont use more than 8GB really and when they do you would struggle to play them anyway.
RAM is any easy way to blow money on something that makes little difference right now. For playing video games, two sticks of 4GB at 1600mhz will probably only give you 3fps less than a 16 or 32GB kit at 2133mhz or something, even though the latter can cost hundreds of pounds,dollars, whatever. Trust me, I have 32GBs of Corsair dominator platinum's at 2133mhz and I never see my memory go higher than 8, maybe 10GB tops and the speed makes no difference really compared to your CPU, GPU, GPU memory etc.
(btw, if anyone wonders why I have that if I know it makes no difference, its just a hobby to me and the whole system is massive overkill :P)
Yeap, follow @MisteryAngel's advice. For Gaming you won't even notice.
Personally, I would start a new thread with your budget listed at the top, and plan an entire system.
No-one's going to laugh.
You should seriously consider an Athlon though. I think with DX 12 the extra cores could benefit you more than the G3258 and the motherboard will be cheaper. Put that towards the best second hand GPU you find on Ebay!!!
I started one a few days ago https://forum.teksyndicate.com/t/tight-budget-gaming-pc-really-do-not-want-to-buy-a-console/82109
I just ended up more confused hahaa :L my budget is tops £300 and people were suggesting spending a little more on each component, however these 'little' extra spends add up to another £50 that I simply cannot afford at this moment in time.
It also started a war between higher clocked dual cores v lower clocked quad cores. :L
Do you have more than 2 memory slots? Do you need 16gb+ of ram for work? Are you dual, trip or quad channel? You want to buy matched sets of ram in a kit if possible. If your quad you may want the 4x4gb i have read quad can perform 30% better than dual. The argument is you will never notice unless your doing memory intense computing. If this is for general computing/gaming only, you have more than 2 slots and you do not need more than 16Gb then buy the cheaper 2x4gb or 4x4gb kit. If you need 16gb buy 16gb now it will increase in price as ddr3 is phased out of main production which will be like 3 years from now im assuming. buy 1600+ cs9 or lower ddr3
I've made a system up:
8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Pro Series Silver, PC3-17066 (2133), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 11-11-11-27, XMP, 1.5V
1TB Seagate ST1000DX001 SSHD Hybrid HDD 3.5" SATA 6GB/s 64MB Cache <8ms OEM NCQ
MSI A78-G41 PC Mate AMD A78, S FM2+, DDR3, PCIe 3.0 (x16), 2 Way CrossFireX, D-Sub (VGA), DVI-D, HDMI, ATX
550W ThermalTake Smart Series, Hybrid Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze, ATX, PSU
AMD Athlon X4 860K Black Edition, FM2+, Kaveri, Quad Core Core, 3.7GHz, 95W, CPU, Retail
Total = 261.89 GBP
https://secure.scan.co.uk/web/basket
That gives a hybrid SSD and a decent GPU to game on 7950 + even a hybrid Modular PSU.
I'm 40 over... but this is miles better than what you had earlier + FM2+ is a live platform with upgrades.
You have to consider the value of 50 pounds difference... The experience will be way better for the price of two meals.
Thank you for your suggestions, I will go through it all tonight and decide. Think I'm going to wait on the graphics card in the hope that the new cards from AMD going on sell tomorrow will lower the price of the old ones.
Going back to RAM, here is where I am currently...
Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) HyperX Fury Black Series 1600MHz - £36.23
HyperX FURY Series 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz - £47.84
Will I see £11 worth of performance increase from daul channel? I know we're only talking £11, but that's £11 I can spend else where which could lead to a noticeable performance difference compared to worrying about dual channel. E.g. £11 less on RAM, £11 more on GPU?
People say that because it's been true in the past. But some games like GTA V really benefit a lot from dual channel. GTA V also really loves fast memory. Frostbite games are like that too.
I prefer 2x4Gb. Performance benefits of dual channel may not be so evident in a vast majority of games, but we don't know what the future holds and some games are already running better with a dual channel configuration.
EDIT: On the other hand, if those £11 can lead to a better GPU then by all means, you should get a better GPU and one stick of 8Gb RAM.
I would wait for the new cards, but not to buy them.
The new cards are rebrands of the old chips. So everyone will be selling them second for next to nothing (like 150 for a 290 or so). Or a 285 for a hundred (I think 7950 or 70 is better for 90).
The old chips are so cheap second hand, it's very hard to justify the new ones. You should be able to buy a decent GPU for 1080p for 100. Don't buy a new GPU for 100, it will not be as good (360 etc).
i have never seen any vallid proof of that to be honnest.
The only time that dual channel and fast memory is an important thing, is wenn we talk about an apu based system.
But if you game with a dedicated gpu, it doesnt matter at all.
I have linked this in so many topics, you can see the topics it's been linked in next to the original post. lol
https://forum.teksyndicate.com/t/how-bad-am-i-for-using-1-dim-of-ram/75195