2 Slots Vs 4 Slots Ram
Posted By admin On 13/04/22- Make sure if you have more than two slots the RAM is installed in slots of matching color – on a quad channel this is usually 1 & 3 or 2 & 4. If there is only one memory card and it is in the top slot, remove the top memory card before installing RAM in the bottom slot. Always install RAM in the slots from the bottom to the top.
- I understand that there are 4 memory card slots. Only two appear when I remove the bottom cover. Is there a way to tlell if all four slots are in use without removing the two memory cards that I can see? I'm not comfortable removing them if I don't need to just to inspect the other two slots that (I presume) are below the two that are visible.
- I can’t for the life of me figure out whether to buy 2x16 GB RAM sticks or 4x8. I’m fairly certain I heard Wendell say in a recent youtube video that if you could get the same amount of RAM on 2 sticks, that would be preferable over 4 sticks. However, when I browse for which RAM to buy, I see that the 8 GB RAM sticks have better timings compared with 16 GB RAM sticks. So basically: would.
Slots
This is the total number of memory upgrade slots (sockets) followed by their configuration. Banks are the way a system addresses memory. A bank must be completely filled with memory modules of the same size and type in order for the system to recognize and address the memory. i.e. :
3 (3 banks of 1) This indicates that there are 3 memory slots. These are divided into 3 banks, and each bank consists of one memory slot. So you can add memory one piece at a time for the system to use.
4 (2 banks of 2) This indicates that there are 4 memory slots. These are divided into 2 banks, and each bank consists of two memory slots. So you must add memory two pieces at a time (they must be the same size and type of memory) in order for the system to benefit from the upgrade.
A single stick of RAM on a motherboard with four DIMM slots won’t look as clean as if you were to use two sticks of RAM—or, better yet, four sticks of RAM. So, if the price difference between a single stick of RAM and a dual kit (or quad kit) of the same capacity is minimal and you are taking the aesthetics of your build into consideration. A 4-DIMM kit with the same capacity uses half-density DDR4 silicon parts, which costs much less. At least for the manufacturer, lol. A 2-DIMM kit will not offer any real advantage worth paying for unless it has double-density and half the ranks vs the 4-DIMM kit. Raja's thread explains why you shouldn't mix and match memory kits.
12 (3 banks of 4) This indicates that there are 12 memory slots. These are divided into 3 banks, and each bank consists of four memory slots. So you must add memory four pieces at a time (and they must be the same size and type of memory) in order for the system to benefit from the upgrade.
video description
This benchmark started as an AMD Ryzen 5000 memory timings and frequency benchmark (like of 3600 vs. 3200, 3800, with FCLK changes), but morphed into a 2x8GB vs. 4x8GB benchmark. This didn't used to matter (much) on previous AMD platforms; in fact, running 2 sticks of RAM was sometimes better because it'd be easier to stabilize the tighter timings and higher frequencies than running 4 sticks of RAM. Now, with Zen 3 and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, R9 5900X, R7 5800X, and Ryzen 5 5600X, it's become clear that 2x8GB vs. 4x8GB can impact performance, although this may not carry to other capacities as you exit single-rank configurations. In this benchmarking we're looking at several kits of memory in the beginnings of a best memory performance round-up for Zen 3, but we broke it into an initial 2x vs. 4x stick test.Date: 2020-11-08
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Comments and reviews: 10
Gamers Nexus Would this also apply to R3 3300X cpu's? or a benefit to my system?
I feel like the 3300x is more like the 5000 series cpu's than the 3100, I'm more than likely completely wrong though. Would appreciate you're input Steve.
My build is as:
CPU: R3 3300X
Cooler: Deepcool Gammaxx GT
MoBo: MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
Ram: Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2x8) 3200 (I know I should have gone 3600, rookie error)
GPU: MSI 5500XT Gaming X 8GB (I know, another rookie move but was available and what I could afford at the time)
PSU: Corsair CX550M 550W 80 Plus Bronze (thinking of getting a 650W soon, not sure if I need it but better be safe than sorry)
Case: Cougar MX330 with three added Lian-Li bora lite fans (two front-intake, one top-exhaust)
Retrospectively, everytime I switch between 128, 256, 384 and 512 bit memory graphics cards the game engine knows how to adress these wider busses without recompiling.
Reviews show gtx 1060 6GB is about 10% faster than the 3GB card.
Rambling Buildzoid did a nice video on his Renoir APU and Patrick from Serve the Home has done a video on Epyc 7H12.
Dr. Ian Cutress has some sticks with over 100GB. I wonder if those are SIMM, DIMM or QIMM?
Removing some of the DIMMs from your rendering rig should show some difference in AIDA64.
Remember the 1060 8GB was not released.
Looking forward to Steve Burst :-)
last generation there was a small performance benefit that would surface using dual rank, but nothing quite this definitive. The rank interleaving increases effective memory bandwidth, kind of wonder if that plus the improved pipeline of memory to cache/processor of the 5000 series is leveraging that extra bandwidth better. I kind of wonder if quad rank memory would have a similar performance benefit at 3200 cl14, but that's a lot of extra memory just for a moderate performance uplift
16 gb sticks are dual rank right? Steve slipping up or am I just crazy?
Could this have some strange implications for XOC? I mean, for RAM OC'ing, as far as I understand, 2 slots for memory is generally better, but if Ryzen runs better with 4 sticks - what will net you a better result? If you can achieve higher mem-clocks with 2-stick (asuming you can hold the 1:1:1), but 4-stick is inherently better... Or is the 2-slot boards only just good to run mem-OC and not really better for actual CPU benches?
its a pretty big jump in price for some 4x cl 14 3200+ memory. you may be better off buying the next step up cpu and lower cl 16 ram. there is some cl16 3600 4x8 for 160, but the cl 14 is 359 on newegg. the lowest 3200 x4 cl 14 is 225 and the cl16 is 119. so my question is, do you spend the money on the ram, or do you spend the money on the cpu or gpu? an extra 100- 200 on a cpu or gpu budget can put you up a tier or two.
Can 4x8 SR sticks be clocked as high as 2x8 SR? Can 2x16 DR sticks be clocked as high? If a clock difference is present, does it offset the perceived performance difference of about 8%?
Did Level1 really state that 2x16 SR is the sweet spot or was it 2x16 DR?
Thanks in advance for the clarification and the hard work done.
I might just be lucky but my 3900x runs fine at 1900mhz infinity fabric with no tweeks to the voltage on my AS Rock Steel Legends X570 I am running my Tough RGB 4600mhz ram at 3800mhz at CL15-17-17-17-34 timings the modules are not stable on any setting at 1.5v they run absolutely fine on 1.51v at what ever I throw at them !!!
Zen 2 3000 series chips though use the same IOD and thus memory controller as Zen 3 5000 series.
This behaviour of rank and bank interleaving also applies to many other platforms.
It seems to be something generally only noticed by computer nerds that spent a lot of time worrying about memory accesses :D
If we need four sticks of high frequency ram, doesn't zen 3 just become the best performer regardless of price instead of the bang for buck choice? I mean sure the chip is cheaper, but if you need to upgrade everything else to be able to use it it's not such a good deal anymore, is it?
Great vid as always, but I still believe you should have also tested 2x 16 GB (dual-ranked sticks) while doing this to verify (or falsify ofc) the current assumption that for the same actual number of available memory ranks, system performance while gaming would remain the same.
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2 Slots Vs 4 Slots Ram
