4th memory slot on i7 make a difference?

[westrock2000]

I have the Intel DX58SO which has 4 memory slots, with the first 3 being triple channel. However I dual box World Of Warcraft from time to time and I also have a SSD drive so Im not using a pagefile. As a result 6GB of memory gets used up when running two instances of WoW. I can get down to like 50MB of memory left with nothing else running. So if I add another 2GB stick to the 4th slot will I really notice a degradation difference? Im currently using Corsair DDR3 1600.

 

[PHiZ]

Page 38 of the mobo manual here: http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/dx58so/sb/e4316701_en.pdf

Doesn't really answer your question except to say that memory performance will suffer. My intuition is that filling the forth slot will force the memory to operate in single-channel mode.

Here is an explanation of what you will be missing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-channel_architecture

(Although you are talking about triple channel, I believe the general concept from the dual-channel article is applicable.)

 

[Captain Picard]

Uhh, wait. You've got three sticks of RAM, @ 2GB each. You add a fourth stick for 8GB total, and your i7 should be operating in DUAL channel mode, rather than triple channel mode, right? Yeah, your performance will suffer slightly, but if you're just gaming you'll never notice.

 

[vjcsmoke]

If you want fastest mem performance stick with 3 sticks and triple channel.

 

[WarlordOne]

For gaming I doubt it'll make much of a difference. Do it and let us know.