Instancing Question: Stack of single objects vs stack created in DCC app

Development World Creation
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1

Very new to UE and trying to understand how it “thinks”… I’m working on an archviz scene and I need a stack of plates on a counter. What’s better:

A) A single plate added to the level and then copied into a stack of 10 plates?
B) A stack of the same plate meshes stacked in Maya and then imported as one object and placed in the level?

Technically it’s the same number of polygons, right? But how does UE4 think about them?

THANKS!!
Rob