Dual Channel 8GB vs Tri Channel 6GB

[Patlabor]

I was building a new system and was wondering about the difference in these two setups.

This board with a AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition and ether
2 sets of OCZ Dual Channel 4GB PC12800 DDR3 7-7-7-?
or 1 set of OCZ Gold Tri Channel 6GB PC12800 DDR3 8-8-8-24

It does not have to be that exact ram but you get the idea.

So would 8GB with 4 sticks in 2 sets of Dual Channel ram with lower timings be better then 6GB in 3 sticks of one set of ram with higher timings.
Or would it be the other way around ?

[Spikemaul]

Both links are for the same memory. I could be wrong but isn't triple channel memory only for the i7.

[MushkinNick]

Originally Posted by Spikemaul

Both links are for the same memory. I could be wrong but isn't triple channel memory only for the i7.

More than likely he just copied the wrong link. But yes, most memory (other than 1333 9-9-9-24 1.5v and 1066 7-7-7-20 1.5v) designed for the Core i7 will likely behave differently when used in a higher voltage application. Most of these chips are used specifically for core i7 builds because they respond better to a low voltage, and may act strange at higher voltages. The inverse is also true, non JEDEC stuff intended for things other than Core i7 may behave differently/not work on Core i7.

[Patlabor]

Sorry - I fixed the links.

[MushkinNick]

I would suggest going with the 2x2 DDR3-1600 over the i7 stuff. I'm not sure what chips they are using on those, but I imagine you will have better luck with the 2x2.

Be aware some people are having issues running DDR3-1600 on the AM3 platform. It seems to be a person-to-person issue, but running your memory in the outer slots tends to help. :)

[bojangles]

AM3 does not support Triple Channel memory. Only dual channel works.

[Cranky]

A few reviews to read:

1

2

3

[Patlabor]

Well that settles that.
Thank you all for letting me know.

All the AM3 boards i looked at did not say - "btw only dual here no tri chan stuff"