maximum amount of ram memory?

thesnowman888

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Jan 28, 2013
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Hello,
just have a simple question here, is the maximum amount of ram memory determind by motherboard hardware or by os? one website said win 7 64 bit home premium can have up to 16g and if you go ram website to test how many can you have , it say only 8g. so which one is true and why? thanks
 
Both are true. The motherboard hardware determines how much memory you can install and still boot the system. Some editions of Windows limit how much memory it will actually use. Thus with Windows 7 x64 home premium, you can install 64 GB of ram (for example) if the motherboard supports it, but Windows (and programs running in Windows) will only use 16GB of it.
See here for the amount of memory supported by different editions of Windows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart
 

ashiataka

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Apr 11, 2012
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It's limited by both, but it's always the lower of the two. So if an OS has a limit of x GB of RAM and a motherboard has a limit of y GB of RAM then the real limit is y if x-y > 0, otherwise it's x.
 
The type of chipset used on a motherboard can limit the amount of memory used. Intel based boards based on low cost chipset may have limit of 4GB. O/S has limitations, W7 x86 limited to seeing 4GB but may not use it all, usually about 3.25GB, while W7 x86 Starter is limited to 2GB. With W7 X64, ultimate, Enterprise is limited to 192GB, while Home Premium is limited to 16GB and Home Basic is limited to 8GB.
 

thesnowman888

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Jan 28, 2013
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hi thank for all the reply, ok i have this i7 - 2670qm , motherboard intel hm67,
i went to intel website it said it can take up to 32g memory , when i go to manufacture website of the labtop, it said the max memory can have is 8g. it use win 7 64bit home premium , i like to put it on 16g, can it be done then? thanks
 
The 32g memory is the mentioned in the cpu specs, but you're still limited by the motherboard and/or os. Intel hm67 is a chipset rather than a specific model of motherboard. If the laptop manufacturer website says the motherboard can only handle 8 GB of ram, I wouldn't count on the computer even being able to start if you put in 16.