memory - If the brand, size, MHz speed and latency settings of two sets of RAM are the same, will they still work correctly in dual channel mode?

I'm planning to buy 2x4GB strips of DDR3 RAM at 1600MHz 9-9-9-27 (see here) The box that it is going in will be used to run virtual machines. This means that I may want to stick another 8Gb in it at some point.

I was wondering if I could get another two strips of RAM at some point and they would still play nicely together in dual channel mode. Do I have to buy the same make and model or just something very similar? Which factors are most important?

Answer

The only requirement for dual-channel mode is that you have the same amount of RAM on each channel. If you have 4GB on each channel or 8GB on each channel, the memory controller should run in dual-channel mode.