What is my true maximum RAM capacity. Motherboard appears to support 16GB but CPU is 2 core

OExcret · 06-29-2017, 05:41 AM

My manufacturer claims 4GB max and a 1GB per slot max. BS! I already have 12GB at present (recognized and working). When I check my specs in the CLI I get:
"

Code:

Memory Controller Information
	Error Detecting Method: 64-bit ECC
	Error Correcting Capabilities:
		None
	Supported Interleave: One-way Interleave
	Current Interleave: One-way Interleave
	Maximum Memory Module Size: 4096 MB
	Maximum Total Memory Size: 16384 MB

"

I want the full 16GB, but was told by an ebay seller that it that I would need at least a 4 core CPU to achieve 16GB. Why would the number of cores affect this? For reference, I have an Athlon 64 X2.

hydrurga · 06-29-2017, 07:37 AM

Welcome to LQ, OExcret.

Which motherboard are you using?

Jjanel · 06-29-2017, 08:17 AM

Do you have 1 free ram slot? Maybe ram model#(s)? (btw, cpu has more model info, like 5000 or B22)
Buy elsewhere! Maybe that seller doesn't know core from slot

$20

Timothy Miller · 06-29-2017, 02:48 PM

POSSIBLY what he was referring to is that a dual core processor really just runs out of CPU on most jobs before it's able to take advantage of 16 GB ram. I know this is the issue with my main laptop. IT's only an i7-6600U (dual core hyperthreaded) and even with the hyperthreading, no matter what I try to do, I simply can't get it to use 32 GB ram, I'll max the CPU's at 100% before I can use enough ram. So more than 16 GB for what I do is completely totally wasted.

Mind you, I'm sure there's things that COULD use the ram, but with the basic things I have on the system, I can't.

jefro · 06-29-2017, 03:08 PM

"told by an ebay seller"

Well... ebay doesn't have much cred in my opinion.

Generally OEM's update their product descriptions in a few places. Once in a while they issue a bios update that corrects some ability. It would be in the errata.

I find it odd that the amount is so different. I'd run memtest for a few days and be sure that memtest does really report the amount you installed.

The OEM tends to be the best source for information. They have email support too in some cases to help you. The board is kind of old.

BW-userx · 06-29-2017, 03:57 PM

CPU: Intel i7-2760QM (8) @ 3.50
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6400M/7400M
Memory: 1068MiB / 16066MiB

that is what my lap top is showing with 2 8GB sticks --

my cpu can take it to 32GB but my BIOS is only written to deal with 16GB go figure.

what do you got an 8 and a 4 = 12 if you can get 12 out of it then it has to do 16 - because that is the norm is it not?

4
8
12
16
20
24
32
64

syg00 · 06-29-2017, 06:20 PM

If it is a 64 bit processor, it has the potential to address more memory than you can throw at it. The kernel doesn't care how many cores/threads/whatever.
The hardware does matter - potentially within the die, and certainly the motherboard. I've never seen the economics in buying (much) more memory for old kit, but if you have a use case, go for it.

jefro · 06-29-2017, 09:54 PM

Forgot to say hello and welcome to LQ.

AwesomeMachine · 06-30-2017, 07:04 PM

Try running:

Code:

$ cpuid

and post the results. The amount of ram is dependent mostly on the mobo specs. You can get some idea from the CPU and chipset. But, in the end I have found many mobos will accept more ram, and even faster ram, than the specs state.

OExcret · 07-07-2017, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AwesomeMachine

Try running:

Code:

$ cpuid

and post the results. The amount of ram is dependent mostly on the mobo specs. You can get some idea from the CPU and chipset. But, in the end I have found many mobos will accept more ram, and even faster ram, than the specs state.

Quote:

CPU 0:
vendor_id = "AuthenticAMD"
version information (1/eax):
processor type = primary processor (0)
family = Intel Pentium 4/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Celeron/Xeon/Xeon MP/Itanium2, AMD Athlon 64/Athlon XP-M/Opteron/Sempron/Turion (15)
model = 0xb (11)
stepping id = 0x2 (2)
extended family = 0x0 (0)
extended model = 0x4 (4)
(simple synth) = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Windsor BH-F2), 90nm
miscellaneous (1/ebx):
process local APIC physical ID = 0x0 (0)
cpu count = 0x2 (2)
CLFLUSH line size = 0x8 (8)
brand index = 0x0 (0)
brand id = 0x00 (0): unknown
feature information (1/edx):
x87 FPU on chip = true
virtual-8086 mode enhancement = true
debugging extensions = true
page size extensions = true
time stamp counter = true
RDMSR and WRMSR support = true
physical address extensions = true
machine check exception = true
CMPXCHG8B inst. = true
APIC on chip = true
SYSENTER and SYSEXIT = true
memory type range registers = true
PTE global bit = true
machine check architecture = true
conditional move/compare instruction = true
page attribute table = true
page size extension = true
processor serial number = false
CLFLUSH instruction = true
debug store = false
thermal monitor and clock ctrl = false
MMX Technology = true
FXSAVE/FXRSTOR = true
SSE extensions = true
SSE2 extensions = true
self snoop = false
hyper-threading / multi-core supported = true
therm. monitor = false
IA64 = false
pending break event = false
feature information (1/ecx):
PNI/SSE3: Prescott New Instructions = true
PCLMULDQ instruction = false
64-bit debug store = false
MONITOR/MWAIT = false
CPL-qualified debug store = false
VMX: virtual machine extensions = false
SMX: safer mode extensions = false
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology = false
thermal monitor 2 = false
SSSE3 extensions = false
context ID: adaptive or shared L1 data = false
FMA instruction = false
CMPXCHG16B instruction = true
xTPR disable = false
perfmon and debug = false
process context identifiers = false
direct cache access = false
SSE4.1 extensions = false
SSE4.2 extensions = false
extended xAPIC support = false
MOVBE instruction = false
POPCNT instruction = false
time stamp counter deadline = false
AES instruction = false
XSAVE/XSTOR states = false
OS-enabled XSAVE/XSTOR = false
AVX: advanced vector extensions = false
F16C half-precision convert instruction = false
RDRAND instruction = false
hypervisor guest status = false
extended processor signature (0x80000001/eax):
family/generation = AMD Athlon 64/Opteron/Sempron/Turion (15)
model = 0xb (11)
stepping id = 0x2 (2)
extended family = 0x0 (0)
extended model = 0x4 (4)
(simple synth) = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Windsor BH-F2), 90nm
extended feature flags (0x80000001/edx):
x87 FPU on chip = true
virtual-8086 mode enhancement = true
debugging extensions = true
page size extensions = true
time stamp counter = true
RDMSR and WRMSR support = true
physical address extensions = true
machine check exception = true
CMPXCHG8B inst. = true
APIC on chip = true
SYSCALL and SYSRET instructions = true
memory type range registers = true
global paging extension = true
machine check architecture = true
conditional move/compare instruction = true
page attribute table = true
page size extension = true
multiprocessing capable = false
no-execute page protection = true
AMD multimedia instruction extensions = true
MMX Technology = true
FXSAVE/FXRSTOR = true
SSE extensions = true
1-GB large page support = false
RDTSCP = true
long mode (AA-64) = true
3DNow! instruction extensions = true
3DNow! instructions = true
extended brand id (0x80000001/ebx):
raw = 0x8d1 (2257)
BrandId = 0x8d1 (2257)
PwrLmt:high = 0x3 (3)
PwrLmt:low = 0x0 (0)
BrandTableIndex = 0x4 (4)
NN:high = 0x0 (0)
NN:low = 0x11 (17)
AMD feature flags (0x80000001/ecx):
LAHF/SAHF supported in 64-bit mode = true
CMP Legacy = true
SVM: secure virtual machine = true
extended APIC space = true
AltMovCr8 = true
LZCNT advanced bit manipulation = false
SSE4A support = false
misaligned SSE mode = false
3DNow! PREFETCH/PREFETCHW instructions = false
OS visible workaround = false
instruction based sampling = false
XOP support = false
SKINIT/STGI support = false
watchdog timer support = false
lightweight profiling support = false
4-operand FMA instruction = false
NodeId MSR C001100C = false
TBM support = false
topology extensions = false
brand = "AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+"
L1 TLB/cache information: 2M/4M pages & L1 TLB (0x80000005/eax):
instruction # entries = 0x8 (8)
instruction associativity = 0xff (255)
data # entries = 0x8 (8)
data associativity = 0xff (255)
L1 TLB/cache information: 4K pages & L1 TLB (0x80000005/ebx):
instruction # entries = 0x20 (32)
instruction associativity = 0xff (255)
data # entries = 0x20 (32)
data associativity = 0xff (255)
L1 data cache information (0x80000005/ecx):
line size (bytes) = 0x40 (64)
lines per tag = 0x1 (1)
associativity = 0x2 (2)
size (Kb) = 0x40 (64)
L1 instruction cache information (0x80000005/edx):
line size (bytes) = 0x40 (64)
lines per tag = 0x1 (1)
associativity = 0x2 (2)
size (Kb) = 0x40 (64)
L2 TLB/cache information: 2M/4M pages & L2 TLB (0x80000006/eax):
instruction # entries = 0x0 (0)
instruction associativity = L2 off (0)
data # entries = 0x0 (0)
data associativity = L2 off (0)
L2 TLB/cache information: 4K pages & L2 TLB (0x80000006/ebx):
instruction # entries = 0x200 (512)
instruction associativity = 4-way (4)
data # entries = 0x200 (512)
data associativity = 4-way (4)
L2 unified cache information (0x80000006/ecx):
line size (bytes) = 0x40 (64)
lines per tag = 0x1 (1)
associativity = 16-way (8)
size (Kb) = 0x200 (512)
L3 cache information (0x80000006/edx):
line size (bytes) = 0x0 (0)
lines per tag = 0x0 (0)
associativity = L2 off (0)
size (in 512Kb units) = 0x0 (0)
Advanced Power Management Features (0x80000007/edx):
temperature sensing diode = true
frequency ID (FID) control = true
voltage ID (VID) control = true
thermal trip (TTP) = true
thermal monitor (TM) = true
software thermal control (STC) = true
100 MHz multiplier control = false
hardware P-State control = false
TscInvariant = false
Physical Address and Linear Address Size (0x80000008/eax):
maximum physical address bits = 0x28 (40)
maximum linear (virtual) address bits = 0x30 (48)
maximum guest physical address bits = 0x0 (0)
Logical CPU cores (0x80000008/ecx):
number of CPU cores - 1 = 0x1 (1)
ApicIdCoreIdSize = 0x0 (0)
SVM Secure Virtual Machine (0x8000000a/eax):
SvmRev: SVM revision = 0x1 (1)
SVM Secure Virtual Machine (0x8000000a/edx):
nested paging = false
LBR virtualization = false
SVM lock = false
NRIP save = false
MSR based TSC rate control = false
VMCB clean bits support = false
flush by ASID = false
decode assists = false
SSSE3/SSE5 opcode set disable = false
pause intercept filter = false
pause filter threshold = false
NASID: number of address space identifiers = 0x40 (64):
(instruction supported synth):
CMPXCHG8B = true
conditional move/compare = true
PREFETCH/PREFETCHW = true
(multi-processing synth): multi-core (c=2)
(multi-processing method): AMD
(APIC widths synth): CORE_width=1 SMT_width=0
(APIC synth): PKG_ID=0 CORE_ID=0 SMT_ID=0
(synth) = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Windsor BH-F2), 90nm Processor 4200+
CPU 1:
vendor_id = "AuthenticAMD"
version information (1/eax):
processor type = primary processor (0)
family = Intel Pentium 4/Pentium D/Pentium Extreme Edition/Celeron/Xeon/Xeon MP/Itanium2, AMD Athlon 64/Athlon XP-M/Opteron/Sempron/Turion (15)
model = 0xb (11)
stepping id = 0x2 (2)
extended family = 0x0 (0)
extended model = 0x4 (4)
(simple synth) = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Windsor BH-F2), 90nm
miscellaneous (1/ebx):
process local APIC physical ID = 0x1 (1)
cpu count = 0x2 (2)
CLFLUSH line size = 0x8 (8)
brand index = 0x0 (0)
brand id = 0x00 (0): unknown
feature information (1/edx):
x87 FPU on chip = true
virtual-8086 mode enhancement = true
debugging extensions = true
page size extensions = true
time stamp counter = true
RDMSR and WRMSR support = true
physical address extensions = true
machine check exception = true
CMPXCHG8B inst. = true
APIC on chip = true
SYSENTER and SYSEXIT = true
memory type range registers = true
PTE global bit = true
machine check architecture = true
conditional move/compare instruction = true
page attribute table = true
page size extension = true
processor serial number = false
CLFLUSH instruction = true
debug store = false
thermal monitor and clock ctrl = false
MMX Technology = true
FXSAVE/FXRSTOR = true
SSE extensions = true
SSE2 extensions = true
self snoop = false
hyper-threading / multi-core supported = true
therm. monitor = false
IA64 = false
pending break event = false
feature information (1/ecx):
PNI/SSE3: Prescott New Instructions = true
PCLMULDQ instruction = false
64-bit debug store = false
MONITOR/MWAIT = false
CPL-qualified debug store = false
VMX: virtual machine extensions = false
SMX: safer mode extensions = false
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology = false
thermal monitor 2 = false
SSSE3 extensions = false
context ID: adaptive or shared L1 data = false
FMA instruction = false
CMPXCHG16B instruction = true
xTPR disable = false
perfmon and debug = false
process context identifiers = false
direct cache access = false
SSE4.1 extensions = false
SSE4.2 extensions = false
extended xAPIC support = false
MOVBE instruction = false
POPCNT instruction = false
time stamp counter deadline = false
AES instruction = false
XSAVE/XSTOR states = false
OS-enabled XSAVE/XSTOR = false
AVX: advanced vector extensions = false
F16C half-precision convert instruction = false
RDRAND instruction = false
hypervisor guest status = false
extended processor signature (0x80000001/eax):
family/generation = AMD Athlon 64/Opteron/Sempron/Turion (15)
model = 0xb (11)
stepping id = 0x2 (2)
extended family = 0x0 (0)
extended model = 0x4 (4)
(simple synth) = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Windsor BH-F2), 90nm
extended feature flags (0x80000001/edx):
x87 FPU on chip = true
virtual-8086 mode enhancement = true
debugging extensions = true
page size extensions = true
time stamp counter = true
RDMSR and WRMSR support = true
physical address extensions = true
machine check exception = true
CMPXCHG8B inst. = true
APIC on chip = true
SYSCALL and SYSRET instructions = true
memory type range registers = true
global paging extension = true
machine check architecture = true
conditional move/compare instruction = true
page attribute table = true
page size extension = true
multiprocessing capable = false
no-execute page protection = true
AMD multimedia instruction extensions = true
MMX Technology = true
FXSAVE/FXRSTOR = true
SSE extensions = true
1-GB large page support = false
RDTSCP = true
long mode (AA-64) = true
3DNow! instruction extensions = true
3DNow! instructions = true
extended brand id (0x80000001/ebx):
raw = 0x8d1 (2257)
BrandId = 0x8d1 (2257)
PwrLmt:high = 0x3 (3)
PwrLmt:low = 0x0 (0)
BrandTableIndex = 0x4 (4)
NN:high = 0x0 (0)
NN:low = 0x11 (17)
AMD feature flags (0x80000001/ecx):
LAHF/SAHF supported in 64-bit mode = true
CMP Legacy = true
SVM: secure virtual machine = true
extended APIC space = true
AltMovCr8 = true
LZCNT advanced bit manipulation = false
SSE4A support = false
misaligned SSE mode = false
3DNow! PREFETCH/PREFETCHW instructions = false
OS visible workaround = false
instruction based sampling = false
XOP support = false
SKINIT/STGI support = false
watchdog timer support = false
lightweight profiling support = false
4-operand FMA instruction = false
NodeId MSR C001100C = false
TBM support = false
topology extensions = false
brand = "AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+"
L1 TLB/cache information: 2M/4M pages & L1 TLB (0x80000005/eax):
instruction # entries = 0x8 (8)
instruction associativity = 0xff (255)
data # entries = 0x8 (8)
data associativity = 0xff (255)
L1 TLB/cache information: 4K pages & L1 TLB (0x80000005/ebx):
instruction # entries = 0x20 (32)
instruction associativity = 0xff (255)
data # entries = 0x20 (32)
data associativity = 0xff (255)
L1 data cache information (0x80000005/ecx):
line size (bytes) = 0x40 (64)
lines per tag = 0x1 (1)
associativity = 0x2 (2)
size (Kb) = 0x40 (64)
L1 instruction cache information (0x80000005/edx):
line size (bytes) = 0x40 (64)
lines per tag = 0x1 (1)
associativity = 0x2 (2)
size (Kb) = 0x40 (64)
L2 TLB/cache information: 2M/4M pages & L2 TLB (0x80000006/eax):
instruction # entries = 0x0 (0)
instruction associativity = L2 off (0)
data # entries = 0x0 (0)
data associativity = L2 off (0)
L2 TLB/cache information: 4K pages & L2 TLB (0x80000006/ebx):
instruction # entries = 0x200 (512)
instruction associativity = 4-way (4)
data # entries = 0x200 (512)
data associativity = 4-way (4)
L2 unified cache information (0x80000006/ecx):
line size (bytes) = 0x40 (64)
lines per tag = 0x1 (1)
associativity = 16-way (8)
size (Kb) = 0x200 (512)
L3 cache information (0x80000006/edx):
line size (bytes) = 0x0 (0)
lines per tag = 0x0 (0)
associativity = L2 off (0)
size (in 512Kb units) = 0x0 (0)
Advanced Power Management Features (0x80000007/edx):
temperature sensing diode = true
frequency ID (FID) control = true
voltage ID (VID) control = true
thermal trip (TTP) = true
thermal monitor (TM) = true
software thermal control (STC) = true
100 MHz multiplier control = false
hardware P-State control = false
TscInvariant = false
Physical Address and Linear Address Size (0x80000008/eax):
maximum physical address bits = 0x28 (40)
maximum linear (virtual) address bits = 0x30 (48)
maximum guest physical address bits = 0x0 (0)
Logical CPU cores (0x80000008/ecx):
number of CPU cores - 1 = 0x1 (1)
ApicIdCoreIdSize = 0x0 (0)
SVM Secure Virtual Machine (0x8000000a/eax):
SvmRev: SVM revision = 0x1 (1)
SVM Secure Virtual Machine (0x8000000a/edx):
nested paging = false
LBR virtualization = false
SVM lock = false
NRIP save = false
MSR based TSC rate control = false
VMCB clean bits support = false
flush by ASID = false
decode assists = false
SSSE3/SSE5 opcode set disable = false
pause intercept filter = false
pause filter threshold = false
NASID: number of address space identifiers = 0x40 (64):
(instruction supported synth):
CMPXCHG8B = true
conditional move/compare = true
PREFETCH/PREFETCHW = true
(multi-processing synth): multi-core (c=2)
(multi-processing method): AMD
(APIC widths synth): CORE_width=1 SMT_width=0
(APIC synth): PKG_ID=0 CORE_ID=1 SMT_ID=0
(synth) = AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core (Windsor BH-F2), 90nm Processor 4200+

There's the specs

hydrurga · 07-07-2017, 08:54 AM

Any chance of telling us which motherboard you are using?

OExcret · 07-09-2017, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hydrurga

Any chance of telling us which motherboard you are using?

Of course, motherboard specs:

Code:

 description: Motherboard
       product: EM61SM/EM61PM
       vendor: Acer
       physical id: 0
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
          physical id: 0
          version: R01-B3
          date: 02/07/2007
          size: 128KiB
          capacity: 448KiB
          capabilities: isa pci pnp apm upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb ls120boot zipboot biosbootspecification

Mike_Walsh · 07-18-2017, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OExcret

My manufacturer claims 4GB max and a 1GB per slot max. BS! I already have 12GB at present (recognized and working). When I check my specs in the CLI I get:
"

Code:

Memory Controller Information
	Error Detecting Method: 64-bit ECC
	Error Correcting Capabilities:
		None
	Supported Interleave: One-way Interleave
	Current Interleave: One-way Interleave
	Maximum Memory Module Size: 4096 MB
	Maximum Total Memory Size: 16384 MB

"

I want the full 16GB, but was told by an ebay seller that it that I would need at least a 4 core CPU to achieve 16GB. Why would the number of cores affect this? For reference, I have an Athlon 64 X2.

The Athlon64 X2 is a pretty elderly CPU. It was first released in mid-2005. Note the date of the report:-

http://techreport.com/review/8295/am...-x2-processors

I have one of these, a 3800+, running @ 2.0 GHz, in an elderly Compaq Presario business-class PC, manufactured by Compaq themselves (a name originally much respected in the business sector for high-end, ruggedly dependable hardware), shortly before the HP 'takeover'. The X2 model range went all the way up to the 6400+ (@ 3.2 GHz).

Your informant may be getting confused between the earlier and later models. The original line-up topped out with the 4800+ (2.4 GHz). These ran on the older Socket 939, and the onboard memory controller and Hyper-Link interconnect made use of DDR1 RAM.

12 months or so later, AMD began to release new models, from the 5000+ upwards to the 6400+. These made use of the then new AM2 socket (@940 pins, not 939; thus incompatible). The memory controller and Hyper-Link bus utilised the then new DDR2 standard DIMMs.

Maximum capacity for DDR1 RAM was invariably 4GB. DDR1 DIMMs were never manufactured in larger than 1 GB sizes.....and most motherboards, 10-12 years ago, had a maximum of 4 slots.

The later model X2s could indeed make use of around 16 GB (DDR2 DIMMs maxed out @ 4 GB apiece, X 4 slots = 16 GB). And DDR2 can be purchased for chicken-feed, compared to what it cost all those years ago. The market is saturated with the stuff.

At a guess, I would estimate that you're running one of the later X2s.

Quote:

From syg00:-

If it is a 64 bit processor, it has the potential to address more memory than you can throw at it. The kernel doesn't care how many cores/threads/whatever.
The hardware does matter - potentially within the die, and certainly the motherboard. I've never seen the economics in buying (much) more memory for old kit, but if you have a use case, go for it.

He's right. Look at the specs for my own model:-

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K8/AMD...800CDBOX).html

A terabyte of physical memory, with the ability to address up to a further 256 TB of virtual memory. Even Intel's new i9-X's, with the X299 chipset, and the new DDR5 won't get even remotely near that. And this was 12 years ago.....

Mike.

frankbell · 07-18-2017, 08:55 PM

When I have a question like this, I find out the make and model of the motherboard, then I go the board's manufacturer's website and download the user manual for that motherboard. It usually lists the specs.

If the computer is a Dell, you can usually find such information on the Dell website (I know this only because I have had a number of Dells).

Shadow_7 · 07-18-2017, 11:57 PM

http://www.chiplist.com/AMD_Athlon_6...ection--2228-/

Seems like 4GB max. (8x 512MB) or (1x 4GB dual channel) ???

Normally the CPU is the one that has a ram limit.

dmidecode might provide more details.