Advice on RAM

[Xandre]

Hi,

 

I’m looking to build a new AMD based PC. In terms of RAM, is 2×32 GB or 4x16GB better performance wise?

Disregarding any need to keep to slots free for future expansion.

Xandre
Chaos Scatterbrain with a plethora of 4 bar loop projects, and barely any songs

[pseudopop]

I’m no expert, but according to Reddit and ChatGPT the answer is: it depends on the motherboard.

In most cases you should pick 2×32, because 4×16 is probably not going to be that much faster and some motherboards might have difficulties running four sticks at full speed.

If you need to squeeze every drop of performance and you have a good motherboard, then 4×16 is better.

1

[Hoppy]

I just spoke with a first rate PC builder today. He confirmed that with AMD systems, 2 sticks of RAM allows for the RAM to achieve its full speed. Using four sticks of RAM results in a modest decrease in RAM speed. Motherboards with the newer X870E chipset allow a good technician to tune the system to perhaps claw back a little of that lost RAM speed. That said, if I had to choose between faster RAM and more RAM, I would pick more RAM every day of the week.

If you have large orchestral libraries and need 128 GB of RAM, you will need four sticks of RAM to get there. 96 GB of RAM with two sticks might be the sweet spot. If you aren’t using large orchestral libraries, then using two sticks to get to 64 GB of RAM is a good target. Of course, with purging samples, and bouncing tracks, many people get by with much less RAM.

Soul, Blues, & Jazz on a Wurli or Rhodes

1

[Author]

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