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When I bought my PC back in 2010, motherboards that supported triple-channel DDR3 were everywhere. Thinking that it would be the standard by the time I upgraded, I made sure to get a triple-channel board with 3 2GB sticks.

So now I'm thinking about upgrading and 3/6 of my DIMM slots are empty, but it seems like triple-channel memory has fallen out of vogue and 3-packs of sticks for triple-channel setups are hard to come by.

So what are my options for upgrading? Should I buy a 2-pack set of DDR3 RAM and fill 5/6 of my slots? Can I buy some random single memory DDR3 memory stick to fill the last empty slot after that? Or do I have to buy a 3 pack meant for triple-channel setups? Is there anything I have to be careful of in this situation?

MrKatSwordfish
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1 Answers1

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When it comes to DDR sticks, there's no meaningful difference between the singe, dual, or triple channel sets you can buy. A matched set is simply two or three single sticks from the same production run all in one package, maybe at a slightly better price.

As for upgrading, you're best off making sure all the DDR sticks in a particular channel are the same type. So, find a good deal on a single stick you like, and buy three of them. Leaving a slot empty is fine also. You wind up getting a minor performance hit, but it likely will only be noticeable in benchmarks anyway.

Zel
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