I am considering two laptops that look pretty much the same except one difference: laptop A has two memory chips of 8GB each, while laptop B has one memory chip of 16G. Laptop B is considerably more expensive. Is there a substantial difference between 2x8GB and 1x16GB?
asked Jun 22, 2018 at 5:49
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2The difference between 2x8 and 1x16Gb will perphaps not be that substantial, but laptop B may have a free memory slot, and allow for other expansions?– Gerard H. PilleCommented Jun 22, 2018 at 6:15
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Dual Channel memory may outperform single channel memory, but dual channel memory will also be slightly hotter to run given that it are 2 chips producing heat rather than one. In theory heat should not be an issue, but it is something to keep in the back of your head. Both are neglectable nowadays though.– LPChipCommented Jun 22, 2018 at 7:16
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in the laptop memories are in SO-DIMM or soldered ?– EchoMike444Commented Jun 26, 2020 at 21:40
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1 Answer
1X16 is considered better because it (presumably) has a free RAM slot. This means that:
If you wanted to upgrade to 32 GB RAM, you'll have to buy 2 new 16GB RAMs in the first case, and only 1 new 16 GB RAM in the second case. You'll end up spending half as much.
If you have (or ever find) a compatible RAM from another laptop, you can just put it in your new laptop for some more RAM. If your old laptop has 4 Gigs of ram that would've been thrown away anyway, you can throw that in your new laptop for a little bit more RAM.
I've heard some people say that 2x8 is better because you have two "pathways."
(EDIT; See comment below: basic crux is that it does help, but isn't as much of a difference in most cases to warrant not having the upgradability of a 1x16 RAM Module)
If you think you're gonna need more than 16GB of RAM, check if the price difference is more than buying two sticks of 16GB Ram.
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52x8 would give you dual-channel memory, meaning twice the memory bandwidth and better performance on memory intensive tasks. For a general home user the performance boost is going to be of debatable benefit, but it is definitely there. Probably won't affect general web browsing much, but scientific calculation or video encoding...– Mokubai ♦Commented Jun 22, 2018 at 7:59
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2most people won't ever need as much as 32GB, so 2x8 will be better in most cases– phuclvCommented Jun 22, 2018 at 12:32
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1@phuclv it isn't a bad idea to future-proof. 2x8 doesn't really provide much of an advantage in most cases, especially considering the sort of things do on their laptop. (if it did, then companies wouldn't be selling 1x16 modules) What little benefit it does provide is trumped by the easy upgradability. As I said, the user could technically even put a 1GB RAM they found and put it into their laptop and benefit from it.– AryamanCommented Jun 22, 2018 at 12:40
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1The reason companies sell 2x8 modules is, at least in my opinion, is solely because they're more expensive to upgrade. Even if they company doesn't play on selling RAMs themselevs, selling computers in single configurations because the customer can just buy the lower RAM Model and buy another RAM Stick easily, rather than buying the higher RAM Model.– AryamanCommented Jun 22, 2018 at 12:42
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of course manufacturers must sell all types of RAM because there are all sorts of customers. If one works in a field that really need a lot of RAM like graphics design or running lost of virtual machines then they already bought more RAM. For most of the remaining people 16GB is already future proof enough even for gamers– phuclvCommented Jun 22, 2018 at 13:36