2x16 vs 4x8 RAM
2x16 vs 4x8 RAM
You should be able to handle XMP without issues, but overclocking becomes trickier when you have four sticks compared to two. I'm using four 8GB Trident Z RGB 3200C14 boards and haven't achieved the same level of overclock as with just two. I'm not certain if two 16GB sticks would make a difference, but it seems simpler than four. I'd go with the four sticks, you should be okay. Just use the Ryzen RAM calculator—it worked well for my setup. "Safe" settings performed fine, and "Fast" didn't help much. You can also tweak sub-timings to get a bit more performance out.
Also, using four 8GB modules together in dual channels gives the performance of dual-rank RAM, boosting speeds by roughly 3 to 5% while maintaining the same timings. This setup also restricts overclocking potential; if a 2x16GB setup can't push it up by at least 5%, then a 4x8GB configuration running at default settings is probably more effective. Keep in mind these are typical 2-3 FPS gains in games that usually exceed 120 FPS, and any real-world impact will remain hidden beyond RAM tests. (Note that 4x8GB tends to be about twice as hot as 2x16GB, but it doesn't matter much in practice)
It pushes my setup pretty hard... Probably comes down to the RAM specs, but either way, I need to check everything.
I investigated the topic and discovered it also relies on the motherboard memory layout. T offers better performance with four sticks, while Daisy chain supports two. I also found detailed specs on msi.com for my board. The details are: 1DPC max 5100 MHz, 2R max 3866 MHz, 2DPC max 4000 MHz, 1R max 4000 MHz, 2R max 3600 MHz. Based on this, using a single 3600 MHz stick with CL16 should work fine since four sticks combined would handle two channels per channel, totaling 4000 MHz.