Memory 24gb vs 12gb triple channel

[Heads_Hats]

I am trying to figure out what memory to get for my MSI pro-e x58 (1366) motherboard. At first i thought it would be best to get 24gb with all 6 slots populated with single channel 4gb cards. Then i saw at post that made it seem that 12gb with all 6 slots populated with triple channel 2gb cards would be better. Is this true or was i just imaging things.

I tried posting this earlier but my account says i haven't posted any threads so sorry if this is a repeat.

 

[iFargle]

Exactly what would you be using this set up for? 12GB will suffice for just about anything today. 24 is overkill

Or, you could just put three 4GB sticks and upgrade to that 24 later, if you really need it.

 

[Heads_Hats]

ok well might thought going into this pc was that i dont have much money so don't waste it on anything you'll want to upgrade sooner or later. So the idea would be buy a 4gb card now and slowly add more. I then realized that triple channel may be better. Would it be better idea to get 6gb of triple channel now instead of a 4 gb card. Which one will run faster now and which one will run faster once the slots are maxed out?


**edit**
ok it doesn't seem to be responding so lets try this again.
I don't have a lot of money so i want to go with the biggest i can get right now that won't require upgrading later. My question is will 12gb of triple channel run faster than 24gb of single channel. I would only have enough money for 6gb of triple channel or a single card of 4gb ram.

 

[iFargle]

ohh I see what you mean.. I'd go with the three two gig sticks. You'll never use that much. Under normal circumstances, I'm sitting with about 6GB free.

unless you're some INSANE multitasker.. I mean, with Vista, Crysis, GTA IV, and the daily apps I run (FF, iTunes, Photoshop, etc), I had about 500MB left of 8GB

As for performance.. the 3x2GB sticks would be faster (more pins to access the memory from)

If all your slots are maxed out, then they would be pretty much equal in speeds. The 12GB would be faster because its less memory being accessed using the same number of pins (unless the 4GB is clocked faster... Even then, the differences are minimal.

 

[Heads_Hats]

thanks for the reply. Ill certainly go with the triple channel.