How would 8gb dual channel & 4gb single channel affect performance?

[euskalzabe]

I was recently reading the excellent RAM Matters: How Much Do You Need for Gaming? 4GB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB by Techspot, and getting increasingly annoyed I went with a 1060 3GB vs the 6GB variant, but then again, prices have been impossible these past few months.

Seeing that the 3GB model sees in general about %25 more system RAM usage than the 6GB version due to running out of VRAM, I was considering upping my my RAM from the current 8GB. It really grinds my gears how expensive it has gotten, so instead of getting another 8GB for $100, how about just getting an extra 4GB for $50? This implies keeping my current 8g running on dual channel while the other 4gb would be on single channel. My motherboard supports this flexible mode, and it'd keep the door open to buy another 4gb when prices decrease in a few months, while giving me a better gaming experience now.

I've never really thought of having 3 sticks instead of 2 or 4, so I'm wondering how this would affect performance?

 

[Nakulz]

I thought once you put an odd ball into the mix, it would run at the lower node of the two (single channel)?

Can mobos do that?

 

[dasa]

it will drop cpu performance a bit but most games will be gpu bound

https://forums.overclockers.com.au/threads/upgrade-8gb-to-16-on-current-rig.1236659/page-2
Deus EX Mankind Divided at 800x600 to reduce gpu limit

2600K @ 4.0Ghz

8GB Dual
Avg 110.2
Min 82.9
Max 141.5

12GB Single
Avg 102.4
Min 67.3
Max 126.8

12GB Mixed (I think. I shuffled the CPU fan and used the slot beneath as I believe this is required for mixed mode as per intel site)
Avg 101.0
Min 72.5
Max 128.1


you will still take a fairly large performance hit and likely a few stutters by having the gpu waiting on data from ram but not as bad as waiting on the hdd
lowering aa and texture detail may be a better option till you get a new gpu

 

[euskalzabe]

I thought once you put an odd ball into the mix, it would run at the lower node of the two (single channel)?

Can mobos do that?

Yup, motherboards that can support that run what you have set at double channel as is, the odd-ball at single channel. My Prime B250M's manual clearly explains that (here on page 18)

you will still take a fairly large performance hit and likely a few stutters by having the gpu waiting on data from ram but not as bad as waiting on the hdd
lowering aa and texture detail may be a better option till you get a new gpu

Yeah, I wish I could check how much my games are using the SSD. Still, with many games on a 1060 (from the techspot article) hitting 12GB RAM needs, I figured if I at least add those 4 at 12GB RAM I should be covered for a bit. It has to be better than using the SSD for storage. I might go for it, but I'll wait a bit more and hope for some sort of price reduction... Man does it suck to try to buy any GPU or memory these days...

 

[SamirD]

Why not get 2 2gb modules? Then you don't have to worry about switching to single channel mode. You will take a bit of a hit when you resell the ram (if you have to for room for 4gb modules), but then you can just wait as long as you want.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

Just a little something I noticed...your sig is showing you currently have 8 GB of DDR3-3200.

That should be DDR4, right?

 

[euskalzabe]

Why not get 2 2gb modules? Then you don't have to worry about switching to single channel mode. You will take a bit of a hit when you resell the ram (if you have to for room for 4gb modules), but then you can just wait as long as you want.

Do 2gb sticks exist for DDR4? I thought the minimum was 4! I'll look into it.

UPDATE: Yeah, I find no 2GB modules. The smallest I find is 4GB.

Just a little something I noticed...your sig is showing you currently have 8 GB of DDR3-3200.

That should be DDR4, right?

Yup! Thanks for mentioning it, I'll update it.