meerkt wrote:Has anyone ever done an in-depth study/review on number of ranks vs timing needed for stability?
BTW, why isn't >1 rank treated as dual channel?
TheRazorsEdge wrote:Back in the day, you could usually get higher clocks with 2 DIMMs
Versus 1?!
Being able to use one module is relatively rare. Most consumer CPUs are optimized for two.
With very old systems (286/386/Pentium), you installed SIMMs in pairs. With dual-channel setups starting in the late-90s, you installed DIMMs in pairs. I.e., Athlon/P4 and later.
IIRC, only the 486, Pentium II, and Pentium III used single modules. And their derivative Celeron parts, of course.
Even then, you usually couldn't get enough RAM on a single stick, so the choice was effectively 2 vs 3-4 modules.