Paired Memory

[Willzzz]

If I buy two identical sticks of RAM is there any reason why they wouldn't run in dual channel mode?

Is there much difference between 4x4GB and 2x8GB?
Having more sticks places more load on the memory controller?

[kalniel]

If I buy two identical sticks of RAM is there any reason why they wouldn't run in dual channel mode?

No.

Is there much difference between 4x4GB and 2x8GB?
Having more sticks places more load on the memory controller?

It does place a little more load on the controller, so you might not be able to push to quite the same frequency or latencies if overclocking the RAM (this won't affect the CPU overclock on modern systems with unlinked memory frequencies), but they'll have no problem reaching the advertised speeds.