Two 8Gb ram sticks or one 16gb and one 8gb ram stick?

[mickyayger]

Hi there. I have an Acer Nitro 5. I've recently been mixing programs with OBS, and trying to do some cool on-stream effects. Unfortunately, the more programs I use, the more ram I use. Currently, with 12Gb of ram, I hover around 75%-90% of my max ram. I'm wondering if the dual-channel would be worth it with 2 8gb ram sticks,, or if since I use so many programs, I should use 8/16gb ram sticks. OBS takes anywhere from 1250-2500 MB of memory with all my plugins included. Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[BrentPlays]

Just get 4 8GB

 

[mickyayger]

Just get 4 8GB

Seriously dude. These are the worst answers and they appear on every message board. Did you not even look at my question? In case you didn't, I asked a SPECIFIC question as I use a laptop which has two RAM slots. Not four.

Your answer is as stupid as those you see on build a pc. "I can only afford a 1070 or a 1080, what should I get?"
-"Get an RTX 3080 for optimal gaming"

Like dude you missed the whole point of the question.

 

[BrentPlays]

Seriously dude. These are the worst answers and they appear on every message board. Did you not even look at my question? In case you didn't, I asked a SPECIFIC question as I use a laptop which has two RAM slots. Not four.

Your answer is as stupid as those you see on build a pc. "I can only afford a 1070 or a 1080, what should I get?"
-"Get an RTX 3080 for optimal gaming"

Like dude you missed the whole point of the question.

One 16 & a 8

 

[koala]

I would use the same RAM modules in all slots. Same size, same timing. Prefer 2x8 over 1x16 due to dual channel speedup, if the chipset supports it (don't know if there are chipsets that don't support that, I'm more familiar with desktop chipsets that always support it).
Usually, a machine has 4 slots. On Laptops, I don't know.
That means:
2x8 + 2x empty = 16 GB
2x8 + 2x8 = 32 GB (if upgrade from 2x8)
2x16 + 2x empty = 32 GB (if bought in the first place)
2x16 + 2x16 = 64 GB

If you mix, you end up with RAM at different speed, and since you cannot order the computer to put an app into "the faster" RAM, the faster RAM is kind of wasted except the increased amount.

Having said that, there is also an saying about RAM expansion: RAM can only be replaced by one thing: even more RAM. That means, expanding RAM is better than not expanding. Adding only 1 slot, whatever it is, is better than not adding anything.