4gb is pretty much the standard now and is more than adequate for most applications. There is a noticeable decrease in the time it takes to launch or switch between the heavier applications when you upgrade from 4 - 8 gb but any more than that is overkill if you're not into video editing or running multiple virtual machines.
no new ram is dual channel or tri channel for i series CPU when you by ram you will have 2 chips they could be a 2 GB set 2X1 GB 4 GB set 2X2GB i even think there is a 8GB set 2X4GB when you put ram in you match them up to color for you first set would be what ever color slot 1 is in my board i have yellow and orange yellow is slot 1 and 3 orange slot 2 and 4 i have a 4 GB set 2x2GB and i used slot 1 and 3 it bumps it up to 128 bit mode which means the ram works fast
(at least thats how i understand it)
Thanks all. Its been so dang long since ive kept up with the computer world.
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