4 x 1GB or 2 x 2GB

[Sgt Acid Puke]

May I have some expert opinions please. I've been researching for my new build and came across differing thoughts on getting the most out of your RAM. I'm still undecided on which chipset I'll get (x38 or P45) but I read that 4 x 1GB would perform better than 2 x 2GB. Is this true. Someone please help a learning brother out.

[PrOLifIC_onE]

There are a few factors I would consider here. Performance, price and upgrade-ability.

Performance: slight edge to 4x1gb
You might get a performance increase on a benchmark test with 4 sticks instead of 2, but you will not notice the difference.

Price: slight edge to 2x2gb
2x2gb is bound to be cheaper than 4x1gb most of the time.

Upgradeability: overwhelming edge to 2x2gb
With 4x1gb, you will occupy all your RAM slots and max out at 4gb, where as with 2x2gb you can purchase 2 more 2gb sticks in the future if you choose to upgrade to 8gb of system RAM

2x2gb FTW!

[Dr. V]

4x1GB would technically be the better performing setup vs 2x2GB, it's true.

However, prolific's points lead me to agree with 2x2GB. The difference in performance is definitely not worth a) the bit of extra money and b) sacrificing the ability to upgrade (easily, that is).

I go with 2x2GB.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by PrOLifIC_onE

There are a few factors I would consider here. Performance, price and upgrade-ability.

All good points! To the original poster, you should be aware that while populating all four DIMM slots with 4 x 1GB of RAM will slightly increase performance over 2 x 2GB sticks of RAM, you also need to know that by doing so, you are forcing your motherboard to work that much harder by making it use four channels in lieu of two.

[drew and not u]

I disagree that 4x1GB will net improved performance given the same clocks-peeds and latencies. Using 4 sticks will not result in a quad channel operation, and if anything will increase overall latency. Plus the fact that OC potential could be limited by the 4 DIMM configuration.

Two sticks is always the way to go.

[simple_inhibition]

i was just going to say that populating all 4 ram slots generally makes overclocking more difficult as your memory controller (whether it be integrated on the cpu or on the motherboard) has to work harder. i say go with the 2x2gb sticks

[RA1D]

going from 2x1gb sticks to 4x1gb casued my overclocking ability to suffer drastically and led me to go with a 2x2gb kit

[One4yu2c]

It used to be true that 4 sticks of smaller RAM would be faster than 2 sticks of bigger RAM, because typically the smaller sticks would sport lower latencies/timings (lower latencies = better performance). Generally speaking, that isn't the case anymore. The bigger sized kits now come with low timings.

My choice would be 2x2GB, and here's why:

1) As mentioned above, you give up no performance. And there's even been reports on Intel boards of a performance penalty when populating all four slots. ON a related note, we might test this out for a future article/blog.

2) With double the amount of hardware (4 sticks as opposed to 2), you increase your chances that a part will go bad.

3) By populating 2 slots instead of 4, you leave yourself an upgrade path.

4) It's usually easier to overclock with less sticks than with more. The flip side to this is that 2x2GB kits don't always have the same OC'ing headroom as the smaller sticks do, but either way, by using your motherboard's divider you can limit how much effect your RAM has on your CPU's overclocking ability.

[Sgt Acid Puke]

Thanks for the info I'll stick to the 2 x 2GB config. I don't see anty reason to go over 4GB at this time, since there would'nt be ant performance gains. Any favorite brands and speed for a x38 board?

[polobunny]

Originally Posted by [Dr. V]

4x1GB would technically be the better performing setup vs 2x2GB, it's true.

However, prolific's points lead me to agree with 2x2GB. The difference in performance is definitely not worth a) the bit of extra money and b) sacrificing the ability to upgrade (easily, that is).

I go with 2x2GB.

That's not true.