Quad/Dual channel

Milmar · 26 Jan 2013 at 19:35

am kinda not understanding how it work
i get that it appears fast because it allows greater amount of throughput but the actual speed is the same
so my question is
is it on the motherboard or on the ram
for example can i get 2 sets of dual channel or do i need to get 1 set of quad
any help on understanding this would be greatly appreciated
(sorry if any spelling mistakes dyslexic on board )

bremen1874 · 26 Jan 2013 at 20:31

It's entirely a motherboard thing. Two dual channel sets will be the same as a quad channel kit (or four single sticks for that matter).

Milmar · 26 Jan 2013 at 21:54

so its all motherboard based then
fancy helping me understand how it work
is it just like pipes in effect with single being 1 pipe dual being 2 and quad being 4
or is there something entirely different am just a retard

Kotu · 26 Jan 2013 at 22:41

Its how many memory modules the motherboard can access at the same time, if you have a dual channel motherboard with 4 sticks of ram, it can still only read/write from 2 of the modules at the same time.

Milmar · 26 Jan 2013 at 23:22

so it wouldnt see them as two larger modules then

Kaapstad · 26 Jan 2013 at 23:26

Milmar said:
so its all motherboard based then
fancy helping me understand how it work
is it just like pipes in effect with single being 1 pipe dual being 2 and quad being 4
or is there something entirely different am just a retard

Yes it is a bit like pipes but you also need a CPU with an integrated memory controller capable of using those 4 pipes in the case of X79.

What makes it more complex is with quad channel setups there are 4 pipes but they flow a little slower than the 2 pipes on a dual channel setup. Overal quad channel will give more flow even though the individual pipes are a little slower than dual channel.