Maximum memory confusion?

[mrbunny]

Hello
I recently have purchased this motherboard- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157115
Yeah, I know its not that good but the point is that newegg and the manual say it only supports two gigs of ddr2 ram.
The confusion comes from the chipset website, which says it supports 4 gigs. If the chipset is the actual thing that controls the ram, shouldn't it support 4 gigs? I contacted both companies and neither said they were mistakes. Another thing I read on a forum was a guy with the same motherboard as me who said he got it to take 4 gigs by turning down ram voltages. Does that even sound reasonanble? Motherboards aren't exactly my speciality, and putting more ram in a motherboard than is safe seems stupid. Is it worth the risk to try it, and if it only supports 2 gigs and I put 4 in, what would happen?
Thanks in advance

 

[GhislainG]

It supports either 2 GB of DDR or 2 GB of DDR2, but not at the same time. Therefore it is limited to 2 GB. The chipset can handle 4 GB of memory when all 4 memory slots are the same, but that isn't the case with your motherboard. If you install 4 GB, then the system won't POST.

 

[mrbunny]

Im sorry, I don't think I was very clear about the chipset manufacturers website. It said for my exact model it could support either 4 gigs of ddr or 4 gigs of ddr 2, but not at the same time. And I am looking to put 4 GB ddr2 ram in, just like the guy with the exact same mobo as me. Is it possible that more ram is supported with a bios or chipset update? Because my mobo is updated to all current versions.
Thanks again for the help

 

[GhislainG]

A chipset update isn't really possible. Google for "ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 4 GB" and read posts carefully. It sounds like you have to buy DDR2 memory that requires 1.8V (modules that require more voltage will most likely not work) and run them at 667 MHz or 533 MHz. You should read this: http://pieterb.be/2008/01/16/asrock-4coredual-sata2-4gb-support/

 

[mrbunny]

Thank you that link helped alot . It seems that trying to get 4 gb of ram to work seems complicated, and not that much gain for another 1.25 gb of memory. Of course I'm gonna be tempted to try it when 4 gigs only costs about 30$ now. Is updating bios through a bootable media hard? I've never done that.

 

[GhislainG]

Is updating bios through a bootable media hard? I've never done that.

You'll have to read the manual because not all motherboards are the same.

 

[mrbunny]

thanks for the help GhislainG. I think I'm gonna try it, as it seems alot of people have gotten it to work. After looking into bootable media I think I can do it. Hope I don't break anything