Question about dual channel

[victorbrt]

Hey guys,

Is the performance difference with dual channel worth it?

I bought a new gaming rig with i5 4570 and decided to just get 1x8GB Corsair Vengeance thinking in a future upgrade to 16GB dual channel (because my mobo only have 2 slots).

But then I read that 16GB is simply overkill to my use, and I regret not getting 2x4GB in first place.

TL;DR: it is worth to sell/or exchange the 1x8GB to 2x4GB kit just for the dual channel?

Thanks!

 

[Charlie98]

Depends on the application... what are you using your system for?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Unless you are benchmarking, dual channel has little impact on real world applications.

 

[victorbrt]

It's just the usual... browser with a lot of tabs, media player, programming with a IDE and database, skype+steam, VM with only one system (Linux), some light image editing and of course gaming.

My main concern is about some comments that I saw on the internet saying that the responsiveness of the system as a whole is much better with a dual setup as well in some intensive games like BF. Is that true or just BS?

Thanks for the answers, and sorry for my bad English.

 

[RaiderJ]

If you have an SSD, see how the system performs. If it doesn't feel sub-par to you, then you're probably fine. If you don't have an SSD, start with that. An SSD will have a far larger impact on how a system feels over dual-channel memory.

 

[Charlie98]

You know, I think your strategy is correct. If it was only a single stick of 4GB I would be more concerned, but a single stick of 8GB is fine for what you do... and it does allow you to upgrade without buying a complete set again. Just make sure you add a like stick of RAM... that is, preferably the same manufacturer, timings, speed, etc...

 

[victorbrt]

If you have an SSD, see how the system performs. If it doesn't feel sub-par to you, then you're probably fine. If you don't have an SSD, start with that. An SSD will have a far larger impact on how a system feels over dual-channel memory.

I don't have a SSD yet but I plan to. I just don't know which will come first: a new VGA card (GTX770 is on my mind, I will use my old 650ti of my old computer for now) or a SSD.
I'm thinking in waiting a little for the GTX770 because the 650ti will be sufficient for me with my actual monitor (19", 1440x900). I can play games like BF3/4 on medium and others multiplayer/single games that I have just fine. So getting a SSD in the meantime will be good for overall performance of SO.

You know, I think your strategy is correct. If it was only a single stick of 4GB I would be more concerned, but a single stick of 8GB is fine for what you do... and it does allow you to upgrade without buying a complete set again. Just make sure you add a like stick of RAM... that is, preferably the same manufacturer, timings, speed, etc...

Exactly what I tought when I bought the single stick Charlie. But, my fear is: is single channel a bottleneck nowadays? Like, we are talking about 10FPS increase in games and much better performance in Windows with dual? Or the difference is more about intensive tasks like compression of files, video editing and so on? If is the latter, I'm fine.

Because in the DDR1/DDR2 era dual channel was a big difference, isn't?

 

[Charlie98]

I don't have a SSD yet but I plan to. I just don't know which will come first: a new VGA card (GTX770 is on my mind, I will use my old 650ti of my old computer for now) or a SSD.
I'm thinking in waiting a little for the GTX770 because the 650ti will be sufficient for me with my actual monitor (19", 1440x900). I can play games like BF3/4 on medium and others multiplayer/single games that I have just fine. So getting a SSD in the meantime will be good for overall performance of SO.


Exactly what I tought when I bought the single stick Charlie. But, my fear is: is single channel a bottleneck nowadays? Like, we are talking about 10FPS increase in games and much better performance in Windows with dual? Or the difference is more about intensive tasks like compression of files, video editing and so on? If is the latter, I'm fine.

Yes, that's what I meant by your primary PC tasking. I don't think it will make much difference in gaming.

I'm still rocking my 560ti in MW1/2, etc, and BF4... it works... for now. I would probably get an SSD before I would upgrade your GPU... that makes a bigger difference in day-to-day use, particularly outside of gaming, and adds a nice, quick load to game levels if you have enough SSD room for your current game du jour.

 

[victorbrt]

Yes, that's what I meant by your primary PC tasking. I don't think it will make much difference in gaming.

I'm still rocking my 560ti in MW1/2, etc, and BF4... it works... for now. I would probably get an SSD before I would upgrade your GPU... that makes a bigger difference in day-to-day use, particularly outside of gaming, and adds a nice, quick load to game levels if you have enough SSD room for your current game du jour.

Look at this: http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1349-ram-how-dual-channel-works-vs-single-channel?showall=1

This is a article I find today. It's a very well done benchmark using the new generation of CPU's and for my relief, the only thing that dual channel shine is with simulation applications and of course, with the MaxxMem benchmark. There's not even a single fps change with the Shogun 2 benchmark.

I will just chill with this single stick of RAM and buy a SSD like you guys said. I don't feel the need for a new card now, and the single stick will leave me a option to upgrade to 16GB later.

The SSD will give a good performance with normal use of Windows, right? Like opening programs, extracting files, copying files?
No doubt that the HD are the bottleneck of the computer nowadays. With a SSD I can leave the Windows + programs and about three games, two multiplayers that I play most and one single player that I'm playing on the moment. It's perfect.

 

[Charlie98]

What version of Windows?

 

[victorbrt]

I'm planning to use 7 SP1. Why you ask? 8/8.1 is better with SSD?

 

[Charlie98]

No, W7 is cool... just making sure you weren't using XP or something. There are a few tweaks you can make in W7 that happen automatically in W8, but nothing that causes serious issues.