What will happen if I install more RAM than specified in manual?

I just installed a new motherboard, MSI K9N Neo V3 with an Athlon X2 4400+. I bought a 2GB stick of RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220228), with the intention of ordering 3 more when I have the extra money, for a total of 8GB. The problem is, in the manual for this board, it said that the maximum RAM is 4GB. So is there a chance it will work with more than 4? Its kind of an old board, I thought maybe at the time they wrote the manual, the maximum available was 1GB per stick.

drzigloo

Posted 2009-09-26T04:10:22.100

Reputation: 73

This is almost a duplicate question: http://superuser.com/questions/30139/what-happens-when-more-ram-is-installed-than-the-motherboard-supports

– Troggy – 2009-09-26T05:27:21.510

almost but not quite – Jeff Atwood – 2009-09-26T10:22:04.847

Answers

Take the confusion out of the issue. What does Crucial or Kingston say about the memory capacity of the computer?

The manufacturers manual is a snapshot in time, it only reflects what the manufacturer tested, when the manual was being written. They are rarely updated, unless a new version of the computer / motherboard / etc comes out.

Kingston & Crucial are willing to test with newer memory chipsets, etc. So if they say your model will accept more, then it should work.

I couldn't find the board on Crucial, but Kingston states:

Standard Memory: 0 MB (Removable)

Maximum Memory: 8 GB

Expansion: 4 Sockets

CPU & ChipSet: AMD Athlon 64 (AM2) Nvidia nForce 560 AMD Athlon 64 X2 (AM2) Nvidia nForce 560 AMD Sempron (AM2) Nvidia nForce 560

Bus Architecture: PCI; PCI Express; USB

Mfgr's System P/N's: N/A

Comments MODULES MUST BE ORDERED AND INSTALLED IN PAIRS for Dual Channel mode. Kingston offers "K2" Kit part numbers for Dual Channel mode.

If 4GB is installed, the recognized memory may be reduced to 3.5GB or less (depending on system configuration and memory allocation).

Maximum configurations require 64-bit operating system.

AMD Sempron processors support DDR2-533 and DDR2-667 memory only. DDR2-800 modules are not supported with this processor.

At 1066MHz, this system supports up to two single rank modules ONLY. DDR2-1066 is supported by AM2+ CPUs only.

Benjamin Schollnick

Posted 2009-09-26T04:10:22.100

Reputation: 4 313

Thats pretty much what I guessed about the manual, and I did find a couple other places that said 8GB so I think I'm going to try that. Thanks. – drzigloo – 2009-09-26T15:17:41.133

What will probably happen is that your motherboard will recognize only 4GB of the 8 you have installed. The chipset most likely can't handle more than that. You will need a new motherboard (and a 64-bit OS) to see all 8 gigs.

Steve Rowe

Posted 2009-09-26T04:10:22.100

Reputation: 3 729

Maybe your manual is out of date. According to MSI website this motherboard supports up to 8 GB. Athlon64 processors feature an integrated memory controller so I believe every system with 4 memory slots supports 8 GB of RAM.

Bender

Posted 2009-09-26T04:10:22.100

Reputation: 906

2based on Bender's comment, you could try it -- but make sure your vendor accepts returns before ordering! – Jeff Atwood – 2009-09-26T10:19:11.670

-2

2 Things will happen:

a) It'll work without problems.

b) It won't.

Grumpy ol' Bear

Posted 2009-09-26T04:10:22.100

Reputation: 5 313