Why are almost all ATX motherboards 4 DIMM when running 2 ram sticks optimal and all most people need

I much prefer 4

I removed RAM that was extremely tight in a dimm in the past and broke it, it was a very expensive high end mobo

Luckily had 4 dimm slots so simply used the other pair that still worked and carried on using the mobo without issue

I know that is a rare case and it has only happened to me once but I still prefer to have 4
 
Joxeon said:
2 DIMM boards have better memory stability and would probably be a cost saving for manufacturers so why are all ATX boards 4 DIMM when most users will only ever use 2?.
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We gamers and home PC users may only routinely use two sticks, but there are applications which require large amounts of RAM and do not mind if the RAM is run at stock speeds.
 
It always used to be cheaper to by 4 smaller sticks, than 2 larger ones, especially if you were looking at the max sized dimms. 4x8gb was much cheaper than the same 2x16gb. I was always glad to be able to double my ram on the cheap from the 2nd hand market when the prices dropped - hoping nothing changes any time soon - although I wouldn't complain if the server style 4 slots on each side of the CPU became mainstream... :D
 
cavemanoc said:
It always used to be cheaper to by 4 smaller sticks, than 2 larger ones, especially if you were looking at the max sized dimms. 4x8gb was much cheaper than the same 2x16gb. I was always glad to be able to double my ram on the cheap from the 2nd hand market when the prices dropped - hoping nothing changes any time soon - although I wouldn't complain if the server style 4 slots on each side of the CPU became mainstream... :D
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As ram speeds have increased especially now with the higher quality signaling required for DDR5 and going forward with DDR6 it’s becoming increasing difficult to run the same speeds on 4 sticks as it is with 2 which is why most people now opt for a 2 dimm set up when going for a new build.
 
Woolly_ said:
I think you can get fake RAM modules to fill the spare slots..
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Yeah, but only certain brands, and it just seems a little pointless.
Besides, having started out with two sticks for 32GB, I'm now finding that my new interests (flight sims) really want 64GB or more. Having the extra slots means I don't have to buy another mobo in order to upgrade, and since this is a pretty high-end and thus expensive board already, that's only a good thing.

Woolly_ said:
I guess from a manufacturing perspective it's simpler to leave the four slots in than have to make a separate PCB with the tracers removed
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^this, very much, as well as cheaper.
Already there is a plethora of boards to choose from, each of which comes with stuff some users don't see the need for like twelve SATA ports, or firewire, WiFi antennae, eSATA, voltage monitoring points, or whatever... Making a couple dozen different board versions, or a configurator to include/exclude the stuff an individual does/doesn't need would only make the boards even more expensive.
 
ATIorNvidia said:
I would definitely welcome some 2 DIMM versions of popular ATX boards. Even with only 2 of 4 slots populated, 4 DIMM boards are still technically worse.
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What do you mean they are technically worse? Are you saying my MAG B550 would be better with 2 dimms? Because I like the fact I have the option to install another 16gb if,and when I want to.
 
ooStevo said:
What do you mean they are technically worse? Are you saying my MAG B550 would be better with 2 dimms? Because I like the fact I have the option to install another 16gb if,and when I want to.
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www.youtube.com

Rambling about motherboard memory layouts.

AHOC Patreon/Shirts/Junkyard:http://cxzoid.blogspot.co.uk/p/support-fail.htmlThe Twitch:https://www.twitch.tv/buildzoidThe Facebook: https://www.facebook.co...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

This is a good video that roughly explains 1 vs 2 dimms per channel (with the majority of boards being daisy chained currently)

Most people need not worry unless trying to push their memory clocks.
 
ooStevo said:
I might try pushing my memory to 4000mhz or something. Is it even worth it?
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Worth it as in will you see tangible gains outside of synthetic benchmarks? No.

You'd also need to run your FCLK at 2000MHz for it to make sense, and very few CPU's can do that stable. Most top out at 1900MHz.
 
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