Troubleshoot Is it better to utilise both memory channel?

[CMLew]

Briefly explain your current issue(s)

Free memory channel

Steps taken to resolve, but have been unsuccessful

-

Hi,

I encounter one topic tht mentioned that i7-8750H being out-performed by i5-8300H or even i7-7700HQ was due to the existing empty memory channel. I wonderis that true?
Currently I only utilise one memory slot (1x8GB) with another spare pending for upgrade.
Hence pumping another 8GB into the free channel slot would unleash the potential?
Sorry, if question sounds noob, but Im not really an in-depth hardware guy.

 

[Digerati]

"In theory", running in "dual channel" memory mode does increase performance. However, real-world and theory don't always jive and that is the case here. That is, performance gains with dual channel memory enabled did not prove to actually improve performance to any significant degree for most tasks as all the initial hype suggested. And when gains were noticed, they were no where near "doubled" as "theory" suggested.

What did prove to provide significant performance gains was simply increasing the amount of RAM (depending on your starting point).

Now it is important to understand that 8GB of RAM is already considered a big chunk of RAM. But increasing to 16GB is still likely to yield some noticeable performance gains, not because dual channel is enabled, but because you have doubled the amount of RAM installed. But I quickly must add this depends on the tasks you perform.

Note too, if you are running with a hard drive, increasing your RAM to 16GB will result in your OS banging on your drive's Page File less - and that's a good thing for performance. If you currently are running with a SSD, disk access gains will be less because they are already quick with SSDs.

So should you upgrade from 8GB to 16GB? If you can find another 8GB stick that matches the specs of your current 8GB stick (preferably the same brand and model number), I sure would go for it!

 

[CMLew]

"In theory", running in "dual channel" memory mode does increase performance. However, real-world and theory don't always jive and that is the case here. That is, performance gains with dual channel memory enabled did not prove to actually improve performance to any significant degree for most tasks as all the initial hype suggested. And when gains were noticed, they were no where near "doubled" as "theory" suggested.

What did prove to provide significant performance gains was simply increasing the amount of RAM (depending on your starting point).

Now it is important to understand that 8GB of RAM is already considered a big chunk of RAM. But increasing to 16GB is still likely to yield some noticeable performance gains, not because dual channel is enabled, but because you have doubled the amount of RAM installed. But I quickly must add this depends on the tasks you perform.

Note too, if you are running with a hard drive, increasing your RAM to 16GB will result in your OS banging on your drive's Page File less - and that's a good thing for performance. If you currently are running with a SSD, disk access gains will be less because they are already quick with SSDs.

So should you upgrade from 8GB to 16GB? If you can find another 8GB stick that matches the specs of your current 8GB stick (preferably the same brand and model number), I sure would go for it!

Thanks!
Probably I will want to pump more RAM tgt with SSD and HDD. .
Looking at the capacity of my system, it say up to 32GB supported. Probably I would bump them up and pray it would last me another 4-5 years lol.

 

[Digerati]

I would not go above 16GB. That is a HUGE amount and it is not likely you would see any gains above 16GB - except, maybe, on paper.

I don't bother with hard drives anymore. We don't know what you have now but upgrading graphics often provides some nice gains too.

 

[CMLew]

I would not go above 16GB. That is a HUGE amount and it is not likely you would see any gains above 16GB - except, maybe, on paper.

I don't bother with hard drives anymore. We don't know what you have now but upgrading graphics often provides some nice gains too.

Upgrading graphics = buy new laptop lol
I have GTX 1050 4GB. basic but it does the job for a non-gamer/light-gamer like me. my main task is batch photo processing and editing as well as lil bit of coding. Which is why I feel RAM probably impt to me. lol
I have 1TB 5400RPM. but I intend to replace it with firecuda.

 

[Digerati]

Yeah, you didn't mention this was a notebook. So yeah, you are stuck with that graphics solution.

I agree that adding RAM is your best bet for how you use this computer.

As for replacing your current HD with a SSHD, unless you see a deal that is just too good to pass up, I would not bother. SSHD are faster than conventionally buffered drives, but only by a small margin compared to full SSDs. The slowest SSD will still run circles around the fastest hard drives, even with SS buffers.

 

[Lightning_Brian]

Best performance for our current situation here would be to add more RAM and go for a nice SSD. Personally speaking I'd recommend Intel or Samsung for SSD. Both SSD manufactures are great in my opinion. Look on SlickDeals or Newegg for some great deals on Samsung or Intel SSDs. I fully agree with @Digerati in regards to SSDs. SSDs will run circles around your current 1 TB 5400 RPM drive. In fact any SSD will blow out the water on a 5400 HDD. SSHD in my opinion will not be worth it. Spend a little more cash and get yourself a nice SSD @CMLew .

Trust me you will be quite happy with the more RAM and a SSD!

~Brian

 

[CMLew]

Yeah, you didn't mention this was a notebook. So yeah, you are stuck with that graphics solution.

I agree that adding RAM is your best bet for how you use this computer.

As for replacing your current HD with a SSHD, unless you see a deal that is just too good to pass up, I would not bother. SSHD are faster than conventionally buffered drives, but only by a small margin compared to full SSDs. The slowest SSD will still run circles around the fastest hard drives, even with SS buffers.

Ur Right. But with my existing 128GB SSD, Installing a simple GW2 game is already eating over 30GB space alone. I predict my 128GB will exhaust out by end of this year. lol Which is why my intention to bump them to 512GB SSD and then change HDD to SSHD for speed. All these wun happen so fast now. probably will take 2 years time.

 

[CMLew]

Best performance for our current situation here would be to add more RAM and go for a nice SSD. Personally speaking I'd recommend Intel or Samsung for SSD. Both SSD manufactures are great in my opinion. Look on SlickDeals or Newegg for some great deals on Samsung or Intel SSDs. I fully agree with @Digerati in regards to SSDs. SSDs will run circles around your current 1 TB 5400 RPM drive. In fact any SSD will blow out the water on a 5400 HDD. SSHD in my opinion will not be worth it. Spend a little more cash and get yourself a nice SSD @CMLew .

Trust me you will be quite happy with the more RAM and a SSD!

~Brian

I know
Im aiming Samsung 970 EVO/Pro. 512GB SSD. Only cons is that 4 lanes vs my 2 lanes which will not optimise the full potential of 970 SSD