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Old 04-24-2018, 01:02 PM   #1
Cableaddict
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Default Ram - Use only 2 stick with quad channel support?

I'm running a 5960X in an EVGA X99 micro motherboard. The system supports quad memory.

I originally built it with 4 X 4 GB of ram. However, my ram has been wonky lately, so I ordered new ram, but I forgot about the quad channel thing. I ordered two sticks of 8 Gb, as most articles always say that is typically faster when running many threads.

Then I pulled my mobo and remembered about quad channel. So I'm wondering if I am making a mistake. Theoretically, the cpu's memory manager is somehow designed to work better with 4 sticks, correct? But what exactly is the difference, AND SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT IT?

I am asking here, because I'm only concerned with performance that might affect DAW performance. That's all this PC is used for.

Should return the 2X8 and get 4 matched sticks of ram?

Should I use these, and get 2 more (not sold as a 4-stick set) I I have performance problems?

Should I not worry about it at all?



thx.

Last edited by Cableaddict; 04-24-2018 at 01:30 PM.
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Old 04-24-2018, 01:20 PM   #2
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It would be wise to check your motherboard manual, or maybe dig thru BIOS settings, before deciding.
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Old 04-24-2018, 01:21 PM   #3
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In hard practice (especially for what we do around here) I don't think you will see an awful lot of difference between dual and quad RAM setups...
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Old 04-24-2018, 03:31 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilDragon View Post
In hard practice (especially for what we do around here) I don't think you will see an awful lot of difference between dual and quad RAM setups...
That's what I'm thinking myself, yet a tech at Corsair feels pretty strongly that I should use 4 sticks. I'm not sure how much he knew about DAWS, though.

It's odd, because memory manager aside, 2X8 should be faster than 4X4, for heavy parallel processing.




I'm still on the fence, but have to decide in the next hour or so.

Last edited by Cableaddict; 04-24-2018 at 04:34 PM.
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Old 04-24-2018, 05:00 PM   #5
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There's an interesting test here, form 2015:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2982...rformance.html

Sadly, no tests with a DAW.
He shows very minimal improvement, and in only certain tests. Still there is SOME difference.



I guess I'll return the 2X8, just to be safe. I considered using it and getting another 16 GB, but I really don't need 32 GB of ram, and that's a significant amount of additional heat to deal with, esp if I OC it a bit.
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Old 04-24-2018, 10:28 PM   #6
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Of course the tech at Corsair would want you to buy more RAM, haha.
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