4GB vs 8GB sticks

[Noshei]

So I'm in a bit of a toss up on if I want to go with 4GB or 8GB memory sticks. Right now I am only planning on getting 16GB of memory, but having the ability to upgrade to 32GB later would be nice as I am planning on running a few VM's on my new machine.

So my big question here is if there is a significant performance loss with going with 8GB over 4GB.

Also I might be able to get some ECC memory for these as well, not that it is needed, but are there any known issues with using Server grade ECC enabled memory in a desktop.

 

[redduc900]

Assuming you're referring to the MSI board in your sig., ECC RAM isn't supported.

 

[Noshei]

I am not referring to that board, new board is MSI x87 XPower. Looks like this one doesn't support ECC memory either, which isn't a big deal.

 

[Woomack]

No matter if you pick 4 or 8GB sticks there is no real performance difference. Better is to get 2x8GB so it let you use 32GB in the future what is max on Z87 chipset.

 

[Ajay57]

Noshei: Try looking at this RAM it should help you, but its not cheap, but i am using some here. And its so quick its like something flying out of a Goose lol!!

1, http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=736751

 

[BigSurprise]

It should be noted that some 4GB modules do overclock better than their 8GB counterparts. You really have to look up the specific model you want and look at peoples own experiences with them.

Just recently I was researching Trident X 2400MHz RAM modules and what I was finding was that the 8GB modules had very little headroom, but the 4GB modules were OC champs.

 

[Woomack]

It should be noted that some 4GB modules do overclock better than their 8GB counterparts. You really have to look up the specific model you want and look at peoples own experiences with them.

Just recently I was researching Trident X 2400MHz RAM modules and what I was finding was that the 8GB modules had very little headroom, but the 4GB modules were OC champs.

That's because of used IC but if you look at the new modules based on Hynix MFR then 4GB sticks are much slower than the 8GB sticks even after overclocking ( and compare it like 2x8GB 2133 can beat 2x4GB 2666 in most tests ). Most new 2133+ kits are based on Hynix MFR or CFR right now.
TridentX 2400 are based on Samsung IC and it looks different. Usually there are different chips in 4 and 8GB.
I don't want to comment OC as my 2x4GB TridentX 2400 were barely overclocking and I had 4 kits CL9 and CL10 so it's really random and no one will guarantee OC.

I think that in this case we are talking more about DDR3-1600/1866 max ( I'm assuming it will work on the X58 chipset based board ). In this case good are Micron based kits like Crucial Ballistix Elite/Tactical 1600 8-8-8/1866 9-9-9. No matter if it's 2x4 or 2x8, performance and overclocking is about the same.
Yesterday I was testing RipjawsX 1866 2x8GB 9-10-9 1.50V which is probably based on Micron IC too and performance is pretty good. Micron IC is usually overclocking up to 2133 but can keep tighter timings than most other available IC.