x2 sticks, versus x4

father-ted · 19 Oct 2019 at 12:45

Hi,

Does using x4 sticks of ram still significantly affect overclock potential?
Preparing for an upgrade, and wondering what the difference is between x2 16gb sticks, versus x4 8gb sticks?

CPU upgrade will most probably be 3700X (or 3900X if I can stretch that far)
Motherboard yet to be decided

Thanks

AndreiD · 19 Oct 2019 at 12:51

Depends on the motherboard topology, if daisy chain go for 2 DIMMs, if t-topology go for 4 DIMMs.
A few ASRock X570 motherboards seem to be T-Top, so it's probably best to go for a 2x 16GB kit if you don't want to go for a Taichi or Pro4.

Minstadave · 19 Oct 2019 at 13:09

AndreiD said:
Depends on the motherboard topology, if daisy chain go for 2 DIMMs, if t-topology go for 4 DIMMs.
A few ASRock X570 motherboards seem to be T-Top, so it's probably best to go for a 2x 16GB kit if you don't want to go for a Taichi or Pro4.

I struggle with 4 dual rank sticks even on the X570 Taichi. Can just about run 3000mhz with 4 sticks or 3733mhz with 2.

AndreiD · 19 Oct 2019 at 13:16

You'd probably have better luck if they were Single Rank, but for OP it's still probably best to go for 2x 16GB regardless.

Minstadave · 19 Oct 2019 at 13:17

Absolutely, 2x16GB is sensible.

father-ted · 19 Oct 2019 at 14:31

Thanks guys, I was swaying towards 2 x 16gb, you have just made my mind up

AndreiD · 21 Oct 2019 at 09:28

@Minstadave Apparently they changed retail X570 Taichi to Daisy-Chain instead of T-Topology like some of the early samples. It's probably the reason why you're not getting good speeds with 4x DR DIMMs.

Minstadave · 21 Oct 2019 at 10:42

AndreiD said:
@Minstadave Apparently they changed retail X570 Taichi to Daisy-Chain instead of T-Topology like some of the early samples. It's probably the reason why you're not getting good speeds with 4x DR DIMMs.

That would be interesting. Next time I take the board out I'll have a look at the traces.