Questions about RAM for my new high-end system build

[timeshifter]

I'm building a new personal workstation for my home / office / gaming rig. Basically a Z390 motherboard, Intel Core i9-9900K, 32GB RAM, 1TB NMVe, GTX 1080 Ti, etc. I've gathered all the pieces and parts and am ready to start putting it together. Note that some of things I had already and some were purchased today. I've been doing other things, delaying gratification before I let myself build this. But all the hard other things (like filing and taxes, etc.) are out of the way and I'm anxious to build it NOW.

But one bit is bugging me: RAM...

My board has 4 slots for DDR4 RAM. I'd like the option to tweak and overclock my system, but in reality I may never actually do it. I'm coming from an i7-2600K. But, I'm building a top of the line system, so... when I picked up the RAM today I could choose from 4x 8GB modules at 3000 MHz or 2x 16GB modules at 2400 MHz. I chose the 4x 8GB at 3000 MHz.

I'm thinking about returning what I bought and ordering a faster 2x 16GB kit at 3000 or 3200 MHz. But I still don't fully understand where the sweet spot is in terms of speed. And I'm wondering if some of the benefits I see with 4x 8GB make sense.

The benefits of 4x 8GB:

• know now whether all four slots on board are good, instead a year or two down the road out of warranty and add two sticks and learn that slot 3 is defective
• confident that all the memory is the same version, etc, all perfectly matched, even if that means I have to remove it all to upgrade down the road, if and when I do it might be better to buy all new matched memory instead of trying to match what I have exactly
• nothing is going to fall into the empty DIMM slot like dust or whatever
• maybe the memory and the system will be less stressed with more, lower density modules, the heat will be dispensed more evenly, although some have said there is increased stress on the memory controller

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GTc3P3

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z390-E-GAMING/specifications/
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...MING/ROG_Strix_Z390-E_Gaming_QVL_20181226.pdf

 

[Sky-Knight]

Honestly, you aren't going to notice much of a difference. I only know of one guy that does, and he's doing R&D on missile intercept systems. If it's my system I go with fewer larger RAM modules, fewer parts to fail to have to troubleshoot later, and easier upgrades in a few years if you want.

As for the defective memory socket problem, get a mainboard with a warranty on it. Or, install the system using two of the slots... swap to the other two and run Intel's burn test or something. Though honestly... I haven't had a bad socket on any board of that price class... ever... so I'm not thinking it's much of a concern.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I like 2x16gb because you can add more ram later.

 

[Your PCMD]

You could just use SoftRAM95 right? Or... (not in English)

 

[brandonkick]

Memory speed for the Intel platform doesn't seem to have quite as much of an effort on performance as compared to AMD's latest offerings. I'd say 3000mhz is probably going to be all the same as 3200mhz or even faster. IIRC that ram is either 2100 or 2400 mhz by default and is actually overclocked out of the box with XMP profiles? I could be wrong but I think that is how it works. Just a matter of how far your ram can overclock.

The real issue is two sticks vs four sticks. If you do go with two sticks, testing the pairs in each channel should be enough to feel comfortable. I don't think ram "quad channels" and some how runs the four sticks in tandem... it's simply two pairs of dual channel memory and shouldn't, in theory, have any issues that running a pair in one slot and then swapping to the other slot wouldn't have.

 

[frase]

Gaming you wont notice any difference, where RAM speed comes into play is Video editing and rendering. I use 16GB DDR3 and everything I throw at it works fine.