WTF 4Gb of RAM, 6Gb of RAM, 8 GB OF RAM!?

[erik_tilton]

My coworkers were talking about how their computers load up in like just a couple of seconds and one said they had 4 Gb of RAM but then upgraded to 6Gb of RAM ON HIS BLOODY LAPTOP!

I was like, "Boy you better slow down therr, you only need like 2!" Because all I hear on the forums and everywhere else is that having any more than 2 Gb of RAM will actually slow down your computer or something.

But then the other guy said he has 8 Gb of RAM on his computer that he uses as a server for online games like WoW and Ragnarok. I was like, "OMGWTF stop 8 gigs of RAM? What!? 8 gigs of RAM? I can't even count that high. 8?"

All you smart people, please help me to understand... why did you all say that having more than 2 gigs of RAM is useless or that it reduces performance? Is it even possible to fit 6 or 8 gigs of RAM on a motherboard?

Please note: I have never built my own computer but plan to when Windows Vista and the DirectX10 video cards come out next year. Up until now my family has been using crappy Dell computers that can only play Warcraft 3 on the lowest settings.

 

[tjhva]

64 bit OS for one

a MB with 8gigs I highly doubt is a basic consumer board, much more likley it is a server board combined with a server based chip.

as far as 6gigs of ram in a Laptop - i've never heard of that. the only way to achive that is if you had at least 3 RAM slots and used 2gig sticks.

 

[Mondoman]

Having more than 2GB of RAM certainly doesn't reduce performance. However, with a 32-bit operating system like WinXP, the OS is typically restricted to addressing 2^32 bytes = 4GB. WinXP reserves 1GB of that for system uses, leaving 3GB. It also limits individual processes to max 2GB each. This can be increased to 3GB/process by specially compiling the program, and booting WinXP with a certain flag set. As you can see, there's not much point to installing more than 2GB with WinXP.
64-bit OSs, however, can typically address much more RAM, so your friends are likely running a 64-bit OS.

 

[JonathanDeane]

I have only seen 1GB sticks of ram for laptops and most laptops only have one slot.... I dont think there is laptops with more then 2 sodim slots ! I think your friend is either misinformed (sometimes people dont know what they are saying and its funny sometimes) or he is just BSing you.

 

[theworminator]

Hey, I'd just like to point you guys to a workstation that Dell offers, that can upgrade to 64 gigabytes of DDR2 533. It uses 4 gig sticks in 16 DIMMs. Pretty intense. Though it'll cost you a tidy sum of $57,850.

Dell Precision 690: http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=ca&CS=CABSDT1&l=en&oc=OCPRSN690_RBP_1W64BIT

 

[weilin]

thats fine sell ur Lexus or BMW and its all covered... or look in Bill Gate's trash can... you may find rolls of 20s..

 

[runswindows95]

All the laptops I've seen retail (including where I work) and through online vendors (including Alienware) only have 2 SODIMM slots and are limited to 2GB. All desktops mobos are limited to 4 slots and 4GB. There is no way a laptop would have 6GB, considering the biggest RAM chip is 1GB. The only machines that go higher than 4 GB are workstations and servers. Your coworkers are fuller of BS than a ranch!

 

[weilin]

well the new core 2 and AM2 boards support up to 8 gb of ram so its "technically" feasable... They can buy 4x2gb sticks. Also, didnt the guy who said he had 8gb on a game server? He could potentially have a actual server board which would support 16gb or more.

Though I agree, Unless he also uses that machine as a datacenter server, heavy duty audio/video editing, CAD or something there is no real need for 8gb

 

[angry_ducky]

4GB RAM in a laptop is possible; I think that Dell offers it as an option on one of their Precision mobile workstations. It's 2x2GB sticks. However, 4GB RAM is the limit for a 32-bit OS, and Windows can only use something like 2.8GB of that.

All desktops mobos are limited to 4 slots and 4GB.

WRONG. Quite a few AM2 mobos support 8 or 16GB of RAM, or at least they say they do. I've seen some LGA 775 mobos that say they support 8GB RAM. I'm pretty sure all s939 mobos support 4GB max, but I may be wrong.

4+ GB of RAM is commonplace in servers and workstations.

 

[Mondoman]

...All desktops mobos are limited to 4 slots and 4GB.

It's foolish to make blanket statements without a bit of research. A quick look on newegg shows plenty of MBs that can handle up to 8GB, and even some that will handle 16GB.

 

[runswindows95]

My mistake, but considering I'm dead tired, I just went with what I knew. Yeah, the newer chipsets support higher than 4GB. I saw a Gigabyte for the Conroe that did 8GB.

 

[bigsby]

Well I have no clue about your friends laptop, but if you have the chance, make sure he's distracted, and then punch him in the face and steal his laptop. Then write down the make of the laptop and throw it away, and tell us the model. He may just be bsing, 'cause most laptops only have 2 sodimm slots.

As for the friend who has the 8 gigs, since he's using it as a server, he may just need that much ram. Servers usually need more ram than anything else.

 

[weilin]

P.S. as for that 6gb of ram.. i find that rather difficult to comprehend, most laptops have 2 sodimm slots which means 2x2gb would be max. I dont think its possible to have 3dimm slots becuase of dual channel. 3 sticks of ram would render Dual channel not possible. 4 sodimm banks.. is that possible? would it still be considered a "laptop"?

 

[theworminator]

Yes, several desktop replacements have 4 sodimm slots. Alienware's Area-51 M7700 would be an example of one, it can be upgraded to have two 1 gig sticks, plus two 512 sticks

 

[weilin]

oh.. never seen those before .. i stand corrected...

 

[Synthetickiller]

4GB RAM in a laptop is possible; I think that Dell offers it as an option on one of their Precision mobile workstations. It's 2x2GB sticks. However, 4GB RAM is the limit for a 32-bit OS, and Windows can only use something like 2.8GB of that.

All desktops mobos are limited to 4 slots and 4GB.

WRONG. Quite a few AM2 mobos support 8 or 16GB of RAM, or at least they say they do. I've seen some LGA 775 mobos that say they support 8GB RAM. I'm pretty sure all s939 mobos support 4GB max, but I may be wrong.

4+ GB of RAM is commonplace in servers and workstations.

I have an old gigabyte board (p4 3.06 w/ ht) with 6 ram slots for 2 gigs of DDR1 ram.

My server configuration has 8 slots and 8 gigs, although i've never had the OS or Bios recognize all of it .

 

[xnamerxx]

Well There are laptops out there that have 4 dimm slots and ive seen one with my own eyes. Its made by a company called clevo and one of my coworkers had one. he was using all of the dimm slots and it had 4 gbs but this was only ddr 1. It also have 2 7200rpm sata hds and a 6800 ultra before sli on notebooks really started to happen. Fugger cost 4k

 

[elpresidente2075]

Yes, several desktop replacements have 4 sodimm slots. Alienware's Area-51 M7700 would be an example of one, it can be upgraded to have two 1 gig sticks, plus two 512 sticks

I was going to mention the 7700. My friend has one, and I have seen the 4 SODIMMs. If one were to put 2 2 gig sticks and 2 1 gigs you would make a 6 gig system, but I seriously doubt the existience of such a system. While it is possible, it is surely impracical. IF your friend actually does have 6 gigs in his laptop, congradulate him on his waste of money and move on. If not, laugh at him for trying to impress you and failing miserably.