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    Hardware limit on RAM based on CPU?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Hungry Man, Feb 14, 2011.

  1. Hungry Man

    Hungry Man Notebook Virtuoso

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    Some Atom CPU's say that there's a limit on the RAM (2GB) but they're also 64bit. If I throw a 4GB stick into it will it recognize on 2GB?
     
    Hungry Man, Feb 14, 2011
    #1
  2. Ackers

    Ackers Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have put 4gb DDR2 stick in a netbook n450(intel)

    no worky(no post)
     
    Ackers, Feb 14, 2011
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  3. Hungry Man

    Hungry Man Notebook Virtuoso

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    Strange. Thanks.
     
    Hungry Man, Feb 14, 2011
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  4. KimoT

    KimoT Are we not men?

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    Atom CPUs have the memory controller on the chip, so if a particular model only supports 2GB, there's nothing you can do to get it to read more.
     
    KimoT, Feb 14, 2011
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  5. Kuu

    Kuu That Quiet Person

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    It's not (directly based on CPU), its based on Chipset. I don't remember any of the Atom chipsets that actually work with more than 2GB in one slot..

    That said, you're not going to be doing anything on an Atom that you would need more than 2GB for, so (most iirc) chipsets for the Atoms max out at 2GB.

    But you can still run 64 bit OS's on them if you need/want to, but then it changes over to you won't be doing anything on an atom that needs 64 bit.
     
    Kuu, Feb 14, 2011
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  6. Hungry Man

    Hungry Man Notebook Virtuoso

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    I see the limit imposed on other chips, such as i5's/i7's. If it's the memory controller on them I get that.
     
    Hungry Man, Feb 14, 2011
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  7. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I believe the Nvidia ION based chipset with the Atom can support 4 GB RAM though with 2 x 2 GB sticks.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Feb 14, 2011
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  8. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    Do NOT assume that because a certain cpu behaves in a certain way with one chipset that the same cpu will behave the same with a different chipset. Or that a chipset will behave the same with differing cpus.

    It always helps to read the docs for the cpu, chipset, and the board integrators.

    Beyond that, the system BIOS and the cpu licensing determines how the chipset behaves and ultimately in the case of Atoms, how much memory the thing can access.

    Intel commonly licenses Atoms destined for desktop OS use (XP, etc) to run a max of 2 Gb ram as they don't want a lot of competition for the mainstream cpus.
     
    newsposter, Feb 14, 2011
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  9. Judicator

    Judicator Judged and found wanting.

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    Yes, with core-i the memory controller moved from the Northbridge to the CPU itself. As for the Atom, it depends on which generation Atom you're talking about. Pineview has moved the memory controller to the processor just like the core-i series, but for any previous generation of Atom, the memory controller is part of the chipset, just as it was for "regular" CPUs prior to Nehalem.
     
    Judicator, Feb 15, 2011
    #9