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PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Nick Evanson

Single-channel DRAM is bad news for PC gaming but depending on what CPU you have, it's not actually as awful as you might think

A close-up photo of a single DDR4 DIMM installed in a gaming PC's motherboard.

While PC gaming has never been an ultra-cheap hobby, the current AI-induced global memory supply crisis has made it painfully pricey. With DRAM kits and SSDs now three to four times more expensive than they were 12 months ago, nothing is off the table when it comes to finding ways to save some money.

All of which got me thinking: Is it worth using a single stick of memory compared to shelling out for a dual-channel kit, be it separately or as part of a prebuilt gaming PC? We're always told that this isn't a good idea, but if you bought a 32 GB kit with a friend and split the memory between the two of you, that would actually save you a bit of money over buying a full 16 GB kit.

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