PC Peripherals Confused on Triple Channel With Four Ram Sticks

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andrew327

andrew327

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Guys i have seen alot of x58 chipset based motherboard and as you know that the 1366 Socket Based CPU supports Tri-Channel memory and the 1156 Socket Based CPU supports Dual Channel Memory. That sounds great but when one goes through the specs of some of the X58 based mobo one see's 4 Ram Slots, on a Tri-channel Architecture based motherboard. Ideally the ram slots should be in multiples of three on this motherboards right.

So now i'm wondering if the CPU supports tri-channel, then what the heck is the fourth RAM slot for and its always indicated with a different colour in all Motherboards from different manufacturers. So after some googling i get this weird answers.
When the 4th RAM slot is used With a Triple Channel Memory Kit
1. The Triple channel is now Dual Channel :ashamed: [My question How ??]
2. The system memory will be in Single Channel Mode [Ok, that might be an answer].
3. Nothing, it will be tri-channel only no change and you get extra Memory [WTF :@]

Really confused with different answer so can anyone out here with some hands on experience with the forth slot on tri-channel based mobo, untangle my confusion :D

BTW i'm looking forward for this board
Intel Workstation Board WX58BP - Overview

with i7 920 and Gskill Trident Memory Kit and i want a Min of 8GB RAM.
 
Most X58 mobos come with 6 slots, you could consider those if you require lot's of ram, providing you better upgrade options.

AFAIK you get tri channel for the first three rams and the remaining one slot would work in single channel mode :|. Forgive me if I am wrong. :)
 
andrew327 said:
When the 4th RAM slot is used With a Triple Channel Memory Kit
1. The Triple channel is now Dual Channel :ashamed: [My question How ??]
2. The system memory will be in Single Channel Mode [Ok, that might be an answer].
3. Nothing, it will be tri-channel only no change and you get extra Memory [WTF :@]
Click to expand...

If you populate the 4th slot, your ram runs in single channel with a slightly lesser bandwidth. If you populate the 3 identical colored slots, your RAM runs in tri-channel.

Why do you need 8GB of RAM in the first place? 6GB of RAM (3 sticks of 2GB) should solve all your present needs IMO. Else 12GB (3 sticks of 4GB) which in all proportions, is an overkill!
 
@haraakiri >> Those boards are currently out of my budget , and i do not want ASUS or MSI boards. Reason >> Asus bad ASS from rashi and MSI huge failure rates of x58 motheboards.

@Gannu >> thanks for the answer, well i need atleast 8 GB of RAM and 12GB will not be an overkill for my needs, checkout my other thread for what i'm looking for http://www.techenclave.com/pc-peripherals/rig-for-45k-50k-153747.html

Can extend my budget to 55k Max if that can help me...
 
Why not go for i7 860 and a compatible P55 mobo? You could buy two sets of 2x2gb rams. Why this doesnt solve your problem? Perhaps worried about foxconn sockets?

Anyway you could go with X58, just buy 8gb of ram, I dont see any issues there.
 
^Rashi's customer support has improved tremendously! Some of them even got to replace their motherboards & gfx cards for better ones by paying a small difference - I guess RP Tech is making up for the bad image which was prevailing before. Maybe you should consider the Asus option. Asus has few workstation X8 boards - one of them is priced at 20k IIRC. Do not remember the make and model though.

If you're going with 8GB of RAM - you've no choice but to run the stick in single channel mode which'll result in a slight loss of memory bandwidth. Memory intensive tasks might take a hit! I suggest using 12GB RAM so you may benefit from the triple channel access.
 
I had an extremely bad experience from Rashi here in Hyderabad just a week back.

Perhaps depends on the place you live. Make sure they provide good service in your city if you plan to buy Asus products.
 
@Gannu >> I have two config in my mind either P55 or X58 and the Intel WX58BP is a workstation board so better performance as the system will be up 24x7 and the mobo is within my budget.

The following config is what i have in my mind according to my budget of 55k

If P55
Core i7 860 + Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2
GSkill RipJaw (2gb x 2) x 2 Kits

if X58
Core i920 + Intel WX58BP [This is the Cheapest board i can get]
Gskill Trident 2gb x 3 [The only thing stopping me and thats why i thought if i can utilize the 4th slot and install 8gb of memory]

Rest the same for both config:-
WD 320 x 5 HDD [Need those # of HDD spools]
Corsair VX450
Cheapest GFX i can get
Cabinet not decided yet, but will be the cheapest which has a good airflow. As will need some serious HDD cooling.

I know i can get some mobo with 6 ram slot and make it 12gb but really i have a tight budget of 55k or else would have created a thread in the show-off section instead of this one.

So i think the only option left for me is Core i7 860 + Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2, but my bad the UD2 is currently out of stock everywhere. Just got news today from my local dealer that it will be in stock by next week. so will wait till then and will keep trying to get a better config in that budget.
 
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