How much RAM can these processors really handle?

Hello guys.

So I was browsing through the internet, looking (again AND still) for a prospect laptop to change into. Right now what I'm looking at is the MSI GX660 (or, quite possibly, the R version)

I'm just a little confused though. I do know the i5-460M (that's what the default GX660 comes with here in the country) can only handle up to 8GB of RAM. Some configurations I saw, though, say the i7-720QM and i7-740QM both can make use of the laptop's three RAM slots and utilize up to 12GB of RAM. Now that's the main selling point for me, if ever, since I'll be doing a lot of video editing work, but when I looked the processors up at Intel Ark, both the quads say they only have a max of 8GB....this confuses me.

Also, can the i5 support, say, two 2GB sticks and one 4GB stick, or is it limited to the two RAM slots?

 

It's not so much how much the processors can handle, it's how much the platform can handle. The processors can handle much more than just 8GB, but the boards probably have a limit of 8GB. 2 4GB sticks. New platforms that can accept 8GB DIMM's are here though, they're just the high-end business machines. And the business machines usually have more than 2 DIMM slots, like the Dell Precision has 4, and can accept 32GB of RAM.

 

Okay, so you're saying if the laptop's motherboard can handle more than two sticks (i.e. three RAM banks that can have a maximum of 4GB each) then it can handle the full 12GB RAM regardless of whether I have the i5 or i7 in it? Because in the GX660 and GX660R, there are three memory slots, and the max configuration utilizes 12GBs.

BTW, I'm talking about soDIMM's, if that makes any difference.

 

You are correct. The CPU has absolutely zero impact on the amount of RAM that a machine can handle. What matters is the platform (the motherboard and the motherboard chipset).

In your example, a motherboard with three RAM slots can likely handle 12GB of max RAM. But the only way to be absolutely sure how much a particular laptop make/model can handle is to look at the specs of that laptop model.

If the GX660/R that you mentioned has specs that can handle a max of 12GB,
or if it is sold by the manufacturer with up to 12GB of RAM, then yes - that laptop can handle 12GB.

 

There are configurations that go up to 12GB for the laptops, yes, but I just saw some that specified that if the machine comes with the i5's, then it is limited to 8GB. How come? Gaah. This really confuses me.

 

Answered your post in the GX660 owners lounge. Long story short, you can slap 12GB of RAM into that machine, regardless of CPU.