Dual Channel vs. Triple Channel

**Fridericus Rex** · January 24, 2011, 03:17 PM

Currently, there seems to be no mATX board, Socket 1155 (Sandy Bridge CPU) with 3-Channel RAM possibility, only boards with Socket 1366 ( Bloomfield CPU, for instance) have 3-channel capability.

How important, besides desirability, is 3-Channel when compared to 2-Channel? Does the Sandy Bridge processor compensates for not have 3 Channel possibility?

Thank you for any highlights you may be able to provide.

**Big Boss** · January 24, 2011, 03:35 PM

Triple channel provides no real benefits over dual channel presently, and Sandy Bridge's improved memory controller over that of Nehalem more than makes up for what ever (negligable) differences there might be.

**Freddie** · January 24, 2011, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by Fridericus Rex

Currently, there seems to be no mATX board, Socket 1155 (Sandy Bridge CPU) with 3-Channel RAM possibility, only boards with Socket 1366 ( Bloomfield CPU, for instance) have 3-channel capability.

How important, besides desirability, is 3-Channel when compared to 2-Channel? Does the Sandy Bridge processor compensates for not have 3 Channel possibility?

Thank you for any highlights you may be able to provide.

If I was buying a new CPU tomorrow the lack of an extra memory channel on Sandy Bridge wouldn't even register with me and it gets even more laughable that Intel will latter this year launch a quad channel Core i7 range of CPU's on LGA2011. Its all the do with memory bandwidth but there's tons of bandwidth still left in dual channel and memory's getting faster all the time anyway so forget about it.

For as good as Sandy Bridge is I've decided to give it a miss, latter this year Intel will be launching the Haswell range which is basically Sandy Bridge but on 22nm (as opposed to 32nm). At 22nm 5Ghz should be an easy overclock, PCI-E 3.0 as standard and USB 3 all around and no stupid 3rd party controllers to bump up the prices of motherboards. If you have quad core currently you might want to consider doing the same.

**Big Boss** · January 25, 2011, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Freddie

For as good as Sandy Bridge is I've decided to give it a miss, latter this year Intel will be launching the Haswell range which is basically Sandy Bridge but on 22nm (as opposed to 32nm). At 22nm 5Ghz should be an easy overclock, PCI-E 3.0 as standard and USB 3 all around and no stupid 3rd party controllers to bump up the prices of motherboards. If you have quad core currently you might want to consider doing the same.

Nah mate, Haswell isn't coming out this year. Thats the next tock in Intels plans, and won't be coming out for at least 2 years. Also, the 22nm Sandy Bridge is called Ivy Bridge, but its using the P77 chipset and thats not rumoured to come out until CES 2012 so Ivy Bridge probably won't be launched until then either.

**Top-Tier-Tech** · January 25, 2011, 04:43 PM

You can get 16GB of DDR3 on a dual channel board for less than $180, who needs more than 16 GB anyway?

**Fridericus Rex** · January 25, 2011, 05:07 PM

Since the Sandy Bridge CPU is the latest Intel processor and has good reviews, I have ordered the i5-2500K for $200 and will install 8GBs RAM ($90) in the dual-channel motherboard ($110).

I hope, this system is good enough for the next two years, at least at that reasonable price.

I thank you all for your help in making a final decision.

**Freddie** · January 25, 2011, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by Fridericus Rex

Since the Sandy Bridge CPU is the latest Intel processor and has good reviews, I have ordered the i5-2500K for $200 and will install 8GBs RAM ($90) in the dual-channel motherboard ($110).

I hope, this system is good enough for the next two years, at least at that reasonable price.

I thank you all for your help in making a final decision.

What motherboard did you get? Asus P8P67?

Originally Posted by Big Boss

Nah mate, Haswell isn't coming out this year. Thats the next tock in Intels plans, and won't be coming out for at least 2 years. Also, the 22nm Sandy Bridge is called Ivy Bridge, but its using the P77 chipset and thats not rumoured to come out until CES 2012 so Ivy Bridge probably won't be launched until then either.

Your right I can't believe I got Ivy and Haswell mixed up. Ivy Bridge is what I'm holding out for as the P67 chipsets really don't offer much over P55 other then the new GUI Bios (and larger hard drive capacities) which by the 7th series should be even better.

**Fridericus Rex** · January 26, 2011, 09:51 AM

Well, here is the final setup:

* Lian Li Microcase PC-C50B (black) with 4x120mm fans and 2x80-90 openings, one directly over the CPU.
* Corsair 650W PSU Enthusiast Series
* Asus P8H67-M Pro motherboard
* Corsair Memmory 8 Dual Channel DDR3 1600
* Intel Core i5-2500k, to be clocked higher than the 3.30 GHz
* Zalman CPU fan (very quite) and Sony HHD and DVD 24x

I have not decided yet on the video card, but lean towards the GTX 480 or 580. It seems to me that the GTX580 is just a minor, but important (heat!), improvement over the GTX480 and actually should be called GTX480.2.

The system is relatively inexpensive and should be good for the next two years.

**Freddie** · January 26, 2011, 05:04 PM

Originally Posted by Fridericus Rex

Well, here is the final setup:

* Lian Li Microcase PC-C50B (black) with 4x120mm fans and 2x80-90 openings, one directly over the CPU.
* Corsair 650W PSU Enthusiast Series
* Asus P8H67-M Pro motherboard
* Corsair Memmory 8 Dual Channel DDR3 1600
* Intel Core i5-2500k, to be clocked higher than the 3.30 GHz
* Zalman CPU fan (very quite) and Sony HHD and DVD 24x

I have not decided yet on the video card, but lean towards the GTX 480 or 580. It seems to me that the GTX580 is just a minor, but important (heat!), improvement over the GTX480 and actually should be called GTX480.2.

The system is relatively inexpensive and should be good for the next two years.

DON'T GET THAT MOTHERBOARD!!!!

I take your getting the Core i5 2500K so you can overclock it a bit? If so you need the P67 chipset otherwise you should save money and get the regular 2500 non K.