Is quad channel memory a gimmick?

Soldato
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
12,957
Hi,

Is quad channel memory a gimmick, especially where (in my opinion) tri-channel has not be used to its fullest potential?

What significant advantages does quad have over tri?

I'm speccing myself a machine. Its purpose is to solve CFD calculations. CPU power and memory capacity are key. However I obviously want the best £/performance.

Ta :)
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Sep 2004
Posts
9,229
Location
Nantwich
It allows for an extra dimm before you start to double up the banks. Useful for adding more memory and for unregistered ram. Of course accessing more memory faster helps if your usage pattern is memory bandwidth dependant, handy for when you push the octo cores to their limit.
 
Caporegime
Joined
26 Aug 2003
Posts
37,491
Location
Leafy Cheshire
If you can find a board that supports dual-channel (you won't get tri-channel new now, as the only platform that did it was X58) with more than 4-DIMM slots then be my guest. ;)

However if you want a lot of RAM without having to delve into server/workstation hardware then a X79 desktop board with 8x8GB sticks is an "affordable" way to get 64GB of RAM. I'll stick with my "cheap" 32GB of RAM (8x4GB) though :p
 
Caporegime
Joined
5 Sep 2010
Posts
25,572
As paradigm says it will allow you to install 64GB of RAM (assuming a motherboard with 8 RAM slots) but in terms of performance you'd be hard pressed to spot the performance difference between dual, triple and quad channel.
 
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