What is the best RAM configuration

Sandtree

I will be buying a new computer which has 2 banks of 2 slots for its RAM. Each slot can take a 32gb stick and an overall maximum of 128gb.

I want to achieve a total of 32gb of RAM and I don't need to consider leaving empty slots for future upgrades... it'll be enough for my needs for as long as I have the computer. What is the best configuration from a performance perspective? 

Were_Doomed

2 sticks of 16gb

2x 16GB inserted in the relevant slots. (I'm assuming the slots are in pairs for dual channel RAM - I think that's the term). Or alternatively 4x 8GB for the same reason. Make sure the RAM is matched.

Neil_Jones

What are you doing that you need 32Gb of memory for?

Unless you're gaming or editing whopping great video files, it may be overkill.  But ideally 2x16Gb, though even then the "boost" for the dual-channel is relatively insignificant to most people's experience.

John_Gray

To be honest, I suspect that you would be hard pressed to find the difference between any of the three proposed memory configurations...

Ozzuk

You should check if the board support dual, triple or even quad RAM and purchase accordingly.  I've just bough 4x8 for mine, but it's dual channel only and maxes at 32.

[Deleted User]

2 sticks of 16gb

Probably 2x16GB assuming it support dual channel only but depends on your motherboard / chipset / processor - if you have a quad channel motherboard then 4x8GB may work but other factors to consider. Supply full spec and that will be helpful.

Also not all RAM chips are the same in terms of performance, not just the Mhz speed of the RAM eg DDR4 PC-2666 runs at 2666 Mhz but you also have CAS latency to consider - you'll see an number say from 15-20 in the CAS latency - this can noticeably affect performance. If you are on Intel platform you want to look out for RAM with XMP profiles enabled so you can clock them even faster than the quoted numbers.

forgotmyname

Dual channel use 2 sticks or Quad channel use 4 sticks.   Usually just the high end boards use Quad channel.

Building a new PC soon and thinking 64GB rather than 32GB. Editing a 4GB file recently used all 16GB of RAM.

The question is what system are you fitting then RAM into?  Not fussed about the speed difference or dual channel
or the actual RAMs clock speed a single stick will work. But you could be losing performance.

Sandtree

Do I NEED 32gb? Probably not but RAM is fairly cheap and I'd rather buy once and have a machine that won't need touching for another 5+ years (our last workstation lasted 8 years before giving up the ghost). 

These days I mainly use the computer for WFH which means running a virtual machine with SQL Server and a circa 6gb db. The Mrs is more the power user editing 4k video files, particularly given the crazy codec Canon decided to use plus some crazy number of layers Photoshop and Illustrator files.  Plus to be honest, we are both bad at closing unused applications.

forgotmyname

Does the board only have 2 slots?   I would be putting 64GB in there to last 5 years.   If its got 4 then
you can start with 32 and add more later.

Sandtree

The board has 4 slots arranged as 2 banks of 2 with a maximum total ram allowable of 128GB

PRAISETHESUN

Personally I'd buy whatever configuration is cheapest for the desired speed/capacity. Down the line you won't want to be buying more slower speed RAM to match your DIMMs to upgrade the capacity since that'd still leave you stuck as a lower speed, so if you use all your slots now it won't really matter. I agree that 32GB is probably overkill unless you have a specific use case in mind, but it sounds like you'll make use of it if you have it