How many DDR4 sticks should I go with?

[Odom Member]

Hi,

 

I have a quick question. I will be building a PC for my brother and I have a question on the amount of DDR4 RAM sticks I should go with. Should I go with 2 or 4? Is it recommended to have all 4 slots filled?

Also, what speed should they be? Would DDR4-3200 be fine, or is the minimum enough?

 

The basic specs would be:

Asus Maximus VIII Hero

i7-6700K or i5-6600K

Still need to chose an M.2

 

Many thanks!

 

 

 

[Astra.Xtreme]

Both things won't matter.  Get whatever capacity fits the budget.

RAM is the one of the fastest components in your PC, so you won't be bottle-necked by any speed you pick.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

choosing appropriate RAM these days doesnt matter like it used to. DDR4 is super fast, timings are always really high, but they dont matter with Intel CPUs like they used to either.

 

as for slots - doesnt matter either. If you find that 4x8GB is cheaper than 2x16GB, go for it.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

It depends what he is doing with that computer. Same as above.

[conna]

I would go with two 16 or 8 GB sticks. Later you can fill the remaining 2 slots with matching memory when he can afford it. 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

7 minutes ago, conna said:

I would go with two 16 or 8 GB sticks. Later you can fill the remaining 2 slots with matching memory when he can afford it. 

I never found a use for using all 4 slots. Some of the 3rd party CPU coolers covers up a slot...

[Astra.Xtreme]

Also, not sure how hot RAM sticks get these days, but less sticks = less heat.

[philcruicks]

I would always go for 2 modules if possible, give you room to upgrade with just buying 2 extra modules in the future rather than having to rip out and chuck all 4 just to get an upgrade.

2x8GB would be my recomendation for a modern system.

 

DDR4-3200 is about as low as you want to go, as much as DDR4 is very fast its also got higher latencys than DDR3, so you need to be about 2666 to get any improvement and above 3000 for anything significant.

[Odom Member]

Many thanks for your feedback!

 

The PC will mainly be used for gaming with a 24'' Full HD Monitor. I was thinking about getting him 16GB in 2x 8GB, as that way later he can simply add another 2x 8GB if he needs more, instead of replacing the 4 sticks with new ones. There is also no plan to overclock, except for what the Mainboard does automatically.

 

I think in that case I will then go with 2x 8GB sticks. I had the G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB DDR4-3200 marked down. The slower sticks are 2€ less, so it won't be about the price.

I wanted to get an aftermarket cooler, something silent. Probably BeQuiet or Noctua. I have a Noctual myself and had problems with my RAM sticks having high dissipators, so I will see if I can get with some that are lower profile.

[Astra.Xtreme]

5 minutes ago, Odom said:

Many thanks for your feedback!

 

The PC will mainly be used for gaming with a 24'' Full HD Monitor. I was thinking about getting him 16GB in 2x 8GB, as that way later he can simply add another 2x 8GB if he needs more, instead of replacing the 4 sticks with new ones. There is also no plan to overclock, except for what the Mainboard does automatically.

 

I think in that case I will then go with 2x 8GB sticks. I had the G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB DDR4-3200 marked down. The slower sticks are 2€ less, so it won't be about the price.

I wanted to get an aftermarket cooler, something silent. Probably BeQuiet or Noctua. I have a Noctual myself and had problems with my RAM sticks having high dissipators, so I will see if I can get with some that are lower profile.

You could also look into a closed loop water cooler.  The radiator can mount to one of the exhaust fan locations and then the CPU will only have a small heatplate mounted to it.  You won't need to worry about the RAM getting in the way then.  I've been using the Corsair ones for several years and they're great.  Cools really well and nice and silent.

[Odom Member]

I've been thinking about those for a very long time (even for my own machine), but was never really convinced. When it comes to noise, I can never find a consensus in the reviews. Some say it is silent, others say that compared to the high-quality Noctua coolers they are not so quiet, so I am always torn in deciding for one or not. I love the look of the Corsair ones, though

 

I was looking at the Be Quiet Dark Base 900 to put everything in, and it does have multiple locations to fit radiators of all sizes.

[sc302 Veteran]

Quote

How many DDR4 sticks should I go with?

 

 

Whenever you have to ask how many, the answer must always be in a multiple of two when required...all others the answer is 5 even when the question does not pertain to the number 5  (eg. what do you like for breakfast? 5...what do you want to do today? 5...the server is down, what happened? 5)

 So to be on the safe side, you need 100 sticks of DDR4 memory. 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, sc302 said:

 

 

Whenever you have to ask how many, the answer must always be in a multiple of two when required...all others the answer is 5 even when the question does not pertain to the number 5  (eg. what do you like for breakfast? 5...what do you want to do today? 5...the server is down, what happened? 5)

 So to be on the safe side, you need 100 sticks of DDR4 memory. 

that is the worst suggestion I've heard in a long time

[Jim K Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, sc302 said:

Whenever you have to ask how many, the answer must always be in a multiple of two when required...all others the answer is 5 even when the question does not pertain to the number 5  (eg. what do you like for breakfast? 5...what do you want to do today? 5...the server is down, what happened? 5)

 So to be on the safe side, you need 100 sticks of DDR4 memory. 

42 ... 42 is always the answer.  42 sticks of RAM.  42 is why the server is down.

 

I would, for the most part, always suggest 2 sticks of RAM (like 2x8GB) ... gives you room in the future to expand.  I also think for the most part 2 higher capacity chips will be cheaper than four lower capacity ones.

 

2 hours ago, Odom said:

I've been thinking about those for a very long time (even for my own machine), but was never really convinced. When it comes to noise, I can never find a consensus in the reviews. Some say it is silent, others say that compared to the high-quality Noctua coolers they are not so quiet, so I am always torn in deciding for one or not. I love the look of the Corsair ones, though

 

I was looking at the Be Quiet Dark Base 900 to put everything in, and it does have multiple locations to fit radiators of all sizes.

I will say water coolers are nice ... sure saves bloody knuckles when you get to get into the case (like changing out memory)...plus you don't have to worry if this or that fits with the cooler...etc.  Saves some headache.  Personally, I would never put another tower cooler in my PC....feels so roomy around the mobo without one.  Just my opinion though.  

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

My Corsair... Well, 90% of the time the fans don't even need to spin up.  I replaced them with Noctua fans anyway so when they do spin up - no sound.  I genuinely can't hear them and I'm 2ft away!

[sc302 Veteran]

While 42 is a very nice number , it is an answer to everything in a fictitious book. It isn't an answer to everything here. The answer has to be prime, something that goes everything nicely, that fits like a glove or in a glove, it needs to open and accepting but also firm and doesn't take crap, it also has to be confirming. 42 can never do any of that.

[Anibal P]

ALL the slots if you can afford it, duh 

 

No such thing as too much RAM, my main PC has 32gb, my next one will have at least that much 

[Order_66]

1 hour ago, jjkusaf said:

 

 

I will say water coolers are nice ... sure saves bloody knuckles when you get to get into the case (like changing out memory)...plus you don't have to worry if this or that fits with the cooler...etc.  Saves some headache.  Personally, I would never put another tower cooler in my PC....feels so roomy around the mobo without one.  Just my opinion though.  

Same here, got an H60 on sale, couldn't believe how dead simple it was to install and how much more room I have inside my case, also very quiet even when maxing the cpu.

 

No more air cooling for me.

[Odom Member]

Cool, I'll look into water cooling then. Always wanted to have one of those, guess now the time is as good as any to give it a go.

 

And thanks again for all the tips on the RAM. I'm sure I won't be able to fit 42 into the Hero mobo, but I'll try putting in 5

[DevTech]

17 hours ago, Odom said:

Cool, I'll look into water cooling then. Always wanted to have one of those, guess now the time is as good as any to give it a go.

 

And thanks again for all the tips on the RAM. I'm sure I won't be able to fit 42 into the Hero mobo, but I'll try putting in 5

The water is the way to go - quiet, leaves lots of space and clamps the CPU temps rock solid which is hard to explain but there is a qualitative difference that seals the deal for me.

 

You can increase the efficiency by reversing the fans on a typical mounting so that the fans blow into the case. That way, cool air enters the radiator. You end up with more hot air inside the case but a single fan of almost any sort blowing on the motherboard handles that easily and the net gain is significant.

 

For RAM, it is a myth that modern mobos don't have issues. The cautious approach would be to buy RAM actually tested by ASUS for that motherboard. You will find the list on their website.

 

From the dawn of time, non-server mobos have always had a harder time driving 4 slots over 2 slots so definitely start with 2 maxed out.

 

The speed of the RAM does not matter an any way so get the best price. It is completely backwards to say the reason for this is because the RAM is fast. It is because the RAM is insanely SLOW compared to the speed of the CPU. Modern CPU's use a large amount of full speed Cache RAM on the CPU chip to work around this vast speed difference. That is why even doubling the RAM speed would yield only a 20% improvement at best and in the range you have available the performance difference might be 2% which is not worth a single penny extra when compared to spending money on More RAM instead.

 

 

[Nas]

What DevTech said about RAM compatibility is absolutely essential.  On my ASUS mobo (skylake cpu) the G.Skill RAM couldn't overclock properly (frequent blue screens) but the Corsair RAM was perfect... so I returned the G.Skill and kept the Corsair kits -- yeah, I had ordered 2 kits as to keep the best set.

 

I got a Fractal Designs silent case; my rig is basically ASUS (mobo, nic, bluetooth) + Corsair (psu, ram) + Sandisk (ssd) + WD (hdd).  It's a beauty, runs quiet and cool, is insanely upgradeable, and will last me 2-4 yrs.

[Odom Member]

Thanks a lot, that is exactly what I am aiming for too, getting a quiet PC, as my brother will have the PC in the living room.

 

Regarding the water cooling, I was always unsure about it, not because of the water cooling efficiency, but because I always ended up reading somewhere that the two fans for the radiator would do as much noise (if not more) than a regular air cooled heatsink. But this time I'll go for a water cooling solution as you all suggested.

 

In respect to the RAM, I don't really care about the speed, as I do not plan on doing any overclocking, apart from what the motherboard does by itself. I just wanted to know the best recommended speed for regular use. From many reviews I read it seems that the speed is only important when you do overclocking or want to get higher numbers in benchmarks. I'll take the suggestion and check the ASUS compatibility list and choose a nice set.

 

Thank you very much for all your feedback, it is really appreciated!!!

[Odom Member]

6 hours ago, DevTech said:

The water is the way to go - quiet, leaves lots of space and clamps the CPU temps rock solid which is hard to explain but there is a qualitative difference that seals the deal for me.

 

You can increase the efficiency by reversing the fans on a typical mounting so that the fans blow into the case. That way, cool air enters the radiator. You end up with more hot air inside the case but a single fan of almost any sort blowing on the motherboard handles that easily and the net gain is significant.

 

 

Regarding your comment on the fans for the radiator, the case will already have two fans at the front sucking air in, plus another one at the back pushing it out. If the two radiator fans are also blowing air inwards, won't that be a bit too much?

Would it not make more sense having them blowing the air upwards (it would be mounted at the top of the BeQuiet Dark Base 900 case), so that the hot air will be expunged? This way there will be two fans blowing cool air inwards over the motherboard, and the other three pushing warm air from the inside to the outside.

 

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Im doing a upgrade myself in the next couple weeks and im going for 4x8GB G-Skill Trident-Z 3200MHz modules. It fills up the slots but they have been reviewed by numous places as being the best bang for budget ram. 

As for water cooling - I have a Corsair H-100 and its great. Water coolers are generally loud when you first boot up the PC as the fans spin up, but then go whisper quiet and the water cooling itself is barely even audible. 

[Odom Member]

Great, I'm already sold on a water cooling solution   I was planning on going with Corsair and choosing on of their solutions. Always heard a lot and good about them. Plus I'm a Corsair fan.

 

I will have a look at those RAM sticks as well. I was thinking about 16GB as I don't hink more are needed for now. I haven't had a game or application yet that filled up my 16GB completely.