RAM economics

[APM]

So you have 4 slots two of which are populated by 4GB sticks.

You are considering adding another 8GB in.

Would there be any advantages moving to 2x8GB sticks and keeping two slots free?
Clearly this is the only option if you think you may want to move to 32GB later on
I hear more heat gets generated if you use the larger sticks but only from one source so any opinions on this appreciated,I guess if more heat is produced this way then more energy/power is used too?

Other option is to add 2x4GB sticks into the spare slots and be happy for the foreseeable future but,again, are there any advantages/disadvantages in either using 4x4GB sticks or 2x8Gb sticks.

Hope that reads clearly.

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

I doubt you will need more than 16GB for a long while with normal use so personally I would go the cheaper route and grab another two sticks the same as you have now.

 

[ginjaninja]

I doubt you will need more than 16GB for a long while with normal use so personally I would go the cheaper route and grab another two sticks the same as you have now.

+1, heat from ram is insignificant, if you have adequate cooling 2 more sticks wont break the bank.

unless you overclock ram, then heat and benefits of 2 sticks become more into frame..

 

[kaku]

More RAM can place additional load on the CPU IMC, however I'm not sure if this is affected by the number of RAM sticks.

 

[new boy]

If DDR3, then defiantly not. You will long since upgraded by the time 16gb isn't enough.

DDR4, dunno.

 

[APM]

It's DDR 3,Corsair Vengeance stuff.

It's been dropping in price for a while now.

 

[Skynet5]

What do you use the PC for?

 

[APM]

General browsing and gaming duties at present but I'm looking to learn VMWare soon.

 

[KelDG]

Running 4 x 2gb for years now with no problem.