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[Solved] DDR3 Limit

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - [Solved] DDR3 Limit

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Best answer from MushkinSean.

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This might seem like a strange question but I was reading an article last night in a CPU magazine from October 2008 that made reference to this. Saying something to the effect that an AMD Phenom II processor can handle only 4GB of ddr3 ram right now.

I know that is an older article but I haven't seen any information that says it can do more.

Is there currently a limit to how much memory an AMD Phenom II processor can recognize or address? I know mobos have there own limit like 8GB, 16GB etc...

Plus, whenever I was looking at reviews of the Phenom II proc's, I only saw people saying that they had 4GB of ddr3 in their system. Nobody ever said they had 8GB.

I hope my question/explanation makes sense!

-Mike

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bigmike7801 wrote :

The AM3 platform had a little difficulty with 8Gb of ram(4 DIMMs) early on, most of the issues seem to have been ironed out.
The odd CPU still gets cranky with 8GB @ 1600, usually adding a bit of CPU-NB voltage will cure the issue.Although sometimes you are forced to reduce the memory speed to 1333MHz.

For the maximum limit on amount of ram, that's a good question. DDR3 4GB sticks are so expensive that nobody really uses them, because of that the most I've seen used in AM3 is 8GB. Many of the mobos do have the max memory listed at 16GB, time will tell...

The MB chipset determines the amount and any limtation of system RAM that can be installed. AMD PII uses 8 GBs of RAM if the MB chipset supports it.

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bigmike7801 wrote :

Reply to MushkinSean

badge wrote :

The MB chipset determines the amount and any limtation of system RAM that can be installed. AMD PII uses 8 GBs of RAM if the MB chipset supports it.

Actually, that isn't true. The CPU determines the limit, since the CPU has the memory controller.

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------------------------------ Asus P6T deluxe
i7 965 @ 4.2GHz (200*21), 1.384V
12GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 CAS 7
Reply to cjl

Yeah, I never see a CPU state a limitiation on amount of RAM. My PII 940 uses DDR2 and I use eight GBs without a problem, but the MB is the only limiting factor I know of regarding the amount of RAM my system will support. Unless AMD states otherwise.

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cjl wrote :

Actually, that isn't true. The CPU determines the limit, since the CPU has the memory controller.

Like I stated, the MB chipset determines the limit. Check for MB chipset specifications, not the CPU specs to determine system RAM limitatons. Been this way forever.

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MushkinSean had the answer I was looking for.

Reply to bigmike7801

Yeah, adjust the voltages accordingly when running 4 DIMMs.

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[Solved] DDR3 Limit

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - [Solved] DDR3 Limit