How much ram can you have in a desktop

[tickingmadness]

Okay I'm sorry for asking (I don't know if these type of questions are allowed on this site or just questions from people having computer problems so please no bad messages) this but it's killing me and I've been searching on google and can not find the answer. Me and a friend are arguing about how much ram you can have in a typical desktop (I don't mean some giant machine I mean something you could find in an average person's house). Can anyone please just tell me how much GB of Ram you can have in a desktop (if there is a limit).

 

[wtrose1]

I would say most it ranges depending on the budget. Alot of store bought computers have around 4 GBs, the higher end store bought/store purchased gaming computer has around 8GBs, and from there your really just limited on your motherboard. Mine for instance can handle up to 32GBs of 1600MHz Ram. Then once you get into higher Speeds you are suppose to use a limited amount on my MB(with an am3+cpu. SO it really fluctuates.

 

[k1114]

A normal pc has an atx form factor and usually has 4 slots. Currently the highest density non ecc ram is 8gb, so 4x8gb=32gb ram. There are x79 boards which are still the same size, atx, but have 8 slots so 64gb ram. There are also atx workstation/server boards which can use 32gb sticks for 256gb ram but that's not an average person's pc although it is also not bigger.

 

[tickingmadness]

A normal pc has an atx form factor and usually has 4 slots. Currently the highest density non ecc ram is 8gb, so 4x8gb=32gb ram. There are x79 boards which are still the same size, atx, but have 8 slots so 64gb ram. There are also atx server boards which can use 32gb sticks for 256gb ram but that's not an average person's pc although it is also not bigger.

Ah okay thank you so much, couldn't for the life of me find any answer like this online and was just killing me

 

[tickingmadness]

Best answer selected by tickingmadness.

 

[rusabus]

I would agree with the earlier statements - 4GB is pretty typical for a "newer" desktop or laptop, with high-end PCs sporting up to 8 or maybe 16GB, but more than that would be very rare.

Keep in mind that even though you may be able to build a machine that can handle more RAM, different versions of Windows have either technical or licensing-related limits on the amount of RAM that is available. Take a look at this:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx

--Russel