# A single stick of 8GB vs. two sticks of 4GB



## 1nSaNeAs1aN (Dec 8, 2012)

So, currently I am deciding to buy a new motherboard and 8GBs of ram, The motherboard only has two slots for ram. My question is should a buy one 8GB ram or two 4GB sticks of ram, BUT if I get the 8GB stick of ram I would probably buy another sometime in the future.
So, would there be any downside to use one stick of ram opposed to two sticks of ram?
Oh, and I play games heavily.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Dec 8, 2012)

There is little difference. Personally I would go for the two 4GB sticks because I hate having unfilled slots in my motherboard but that's just me. IF you go for the 8GB stick then you have the potential to upgrade to 16GB with ease anytime in the future. Just remember to try and get the same or extremely similar stick.


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## Novulux (Dec 8, 2012)

You will not be able to use dual channel mode for now which doubles the bandwidth theoretically:






It honestly shouldn't affect most real world applications and if you do plan to add another stick, it should be fine especially since you would probably be playing most games at medium settings depending on your resolution with those specs.


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## 1nSaNeAs1aN (Dec 8, 2012)

Okay so, I am going to be buying this motherboard:
ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX AM3+ AMD 760G SATA 6Gb/s USB ...
With
8GB stick: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1...
or
4GB sticks: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3...

It should be fine right? I currently using a DDR2 memory motherboard and was looking for an a cheap upgrade instead of buying $130 for 8gbs of DDR2 memory.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Dec 8, 2012)

1nSaNeAs1aN said:


> Okay so, I am going to be buying this motherboard:
> ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX AM3+ AMD 760G SATA 6Gb/s USB ...
> With
> 8GB stick: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1...
> ...



Yes seems fine. I payed a shit load for my ddr2 hyper x kit. 775/am2 stuff is now heavily overpriced.


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## Novulux (Dec 8, 2012)

1nSaNeAs1aN said:


> Okay so, I am going to be buying this motherboard:
> ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX AM3+ AMD 760G SATA 6Gb/s USB ...
> With
> 8GB stick: G.SKILL Value Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1...
> ...



I would recommend getting DDR3 1600 ram as it is found for just about the same price, but guarantees a little more longevity to your system. Still, either of those would definitely provide more performance than DDR2.


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## 1nSaNeAs1aN (Dec 8, 2012)

Novulux said:


> I would recommend getting DDR3 1600 ram as it is found for just about the same price, but guarantees a little more longevity to your system. Still, either of those would definitely provide more performance than DDR2.



I think the motherboard says it will support 1600(OC) so wouldn't I have to oc it or something?


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## GSquadron (Dec 8, 2012)

I am afraid it means 1600mhz at overclocked mode supported


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## Novulux (Dec 9, 2012)

1nSaNeAs1aN said:


> I think the motherboard says it will support 1600(OC) so wouldn't I have to oc it or something?



Yes, the motherboard will set the speed of it anyway to 1333 by default, and it is considered OC if you up it to the actual 1600 in the bios. At least you will have this option.


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## 1nSaNeAs1aN (Dec 9, 2012)

Novulux said:


> Yes, the motherboard will set the speed of it anyway to 1333 by default, and it is considered OC if you up it to the actual 1600 in the bios. At least you will have this option.



Ohhh okay, now I understand. Thanks.


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## hat (Dec 9, 2012)

I would recommend this:

SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600...

I would also recommend getting 2 sticks of ram opposed to just one, no matter what memory you end up choosing.


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## 1nSaNeAs1aN (Dec 9, 2012)

hat said:


> I would recommend this:
> 
> SAMSUNG 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600...
> 
> I would also recommend getting 2 sticks of ram opposed to just one, no matter what memory you end up choosing.



But the thing is that I will be buying another stick later so that I would total 16GBs opposed to having to buy a whole different set of ram.

EDIT: Actually is there any need for me to get 16GBs of ram? The thing I was planing to upgrade for was to livestream and play games at the same time. So is 8GBs enough?


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## Novulux (Dec 9, 2012)

1nSaNeAs1aN said:


> But the thing is that I will be buying another stick later so that I would total 16GBs opposed to having to buy a whole different set of ram.
> 
> EDIT: Actually is there any need for me to get 16GBs of ram? The thing I was planing to upgrade for was to livestream and play games at the same time. So is 8GBs enough?



Yes, it is enough for those purposes as they really rely more on processing power. I have 16 GB and while I have uses for it with ramdisks and hosting game servers, you may not.
I personally need an upgrade to my processor so I can livestream at desired settings.


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## Frick (Dec 9, 2012)

Get one stick now and another one later. I'd go for something like this.


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## Jetster (Dec 9, 2012)

Its best if the sticks match. And if you buy one now and one later make sure the timmings and everything else matches. I would actually buy a set and just sell them later and buy another set. 

also 8 Gb is plenty for any game


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## Jack1n (Dec 9, 2012)

8GB is more than enugh and that samsung kit is amazing.


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## erixx (Dec 9, 2012)

little problem is that a year later, it is hard to find exactly the same stick, even if branded the same. Happened to me when I went from 2 sticks of HyperX to 4 sticks, I ordered the same reference but the first pair was 8-8-8-20 and the other 8-8-8-24......!! :-(


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## Kissamies (Dec 16, 2012)

Jack1n said:


> 8GB is more than enugh and that samsung kit is amazing.



Yeah, it does overclock very well, that's a very recommended kit here in Finland.

Personally I would recommend 2x4GB kit(s), 8GB sticks doesn't overclock so well, as far as I know.


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