Notebook CPU that supports 16GB of memory?

I am planning to buy a new notebook, and among the requirements I thought that I want 8GB of memory now, and the possibility to upgrade to 16 later.

I have done some searching and I have learned that Intel's Core i3/i5/i7 branding is a complete mess, and that the mobile versions of Core i3/i5/i7 (Arrandale or Clarksfield) have no or little corresponding matching with the desktop versions (Lynnfield, Clarkdale, Bloomfield, ...).

Apparently the desktop Core i7 cpus can support 24GB of memory, but that does not help me since it appears that none of the mobile CPU supports more than 8GB (not even the core i7 extreme edition).

I gave up on finding information on AMD's web site; I could not find any mentioning about memory limitations at all.

Is really only 8GB of memory the maximum amount of memory possible for a notebook today???

hlovdal

Posted 2010-11-29T01:08:42.587

Reputation: 2 760

2The CPU is only half the battle though. You also need a notebook motherboard that can take that much memory. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2010-11-29T01:11:55.693

@Ignacio: very true... – studiohack – 2010-11-29T02:44:21.090

A comparison of the "Extreme" series Intel had: http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=27615,34692,35431,43127,47932,37153,

– netvope – 2010-11-29T06:36:27.680

@netvope: Only one of those extreme editions you link are a mobile version. Selecting "Core i7 Mobile Processor Extreme Edition Family" (http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyId=43403) only displays two CPUs (the ones linked in the question).

– hlovdal – 2010-11-29T20:52:48.590

Answers

No. You can get laptops from both Dell and HP that support 16 GB of memory or more. Look for laptops described as "mobile workstations". For Dell that is their Precision line and HP has the Elitebook.

sdanelson

Posted 2010-11-29T01:08:42.587

Reputation: 326

Even some of Dell's consumer grade laptops (ie. Certain XPS models) are upgradeable to 16GB. – John T – 2010-11-29T02:25:48.353

3Those use desktop CPUs, not notebook CPUs. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2010-11-29T02:29:24.720

i7-740QM wasn't a desktop CPU last time I checked. – John T – 2010-11-29T02:46:24.660

Intel claims that the i7-740QM only supports 8GB of memory. http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=49024&code=Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2+i7-740QM+Processor+%286M+cache%2c+1.73+GHz%29

– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2010-11-29T03:02:00.727

1Lenovo as well (the W series). See paradroid's answer. – Shinrai – 2010-11-29T17:33:24.460

I have a i7 720QM processor (in a Asus G51JX) and it has 32GB of ram (with four 8GB sticks). Intel Ark page and Asus support page says that it can handle up to 8GB but that info is completely wrong.

I had the same question, so I wanted to try if I could have that much memory.

I think that the cpu memory controller can handle 64GB of ram, but 16GB sticks are still very expensive.

pwnercl

Posted 2010-11-29T01:08:42.587

Reputation: 126

Is really only 8GB of memory the maximum amount of memory possible for a notebook today???

No, a number of manufacturers sell laptops that are upgradeable to 16GB. Dell, for example, has a number of them.

John T

Posted 2010-11-29T01:08:42.587

Reputation: 149 037

2But how many of those use notebook CPUs? – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2010-11-29T02:29:57.827

1Click the link and find out? – John T – 2010-11-29T02:46:04.037

The ThinkPad W510 mobile workstation can use up to 16GB of RAM.

paradroid

Posted 2010-11-29T01:08:42.587

Reputation: 20 970

1I'm confused... How can the W510 use 16GB RAM if all the listed CPUs support only 8GB RAM? – netvope – 2010-11-29T06:34:49.333

@netvope: That is odd. I don't know why. It's not a mistake on that wiki, as it is repeated at the Crucial site and the Lenovo brochure. http://www.lenovo.com/shop/americas/content/pdf/notebooks/ThinkPad/W-Series/W510_datasheet.pdf

– paradroid – 2010-11-29T07:05:11.373

I've personally run 16GB on a W510 and a W701. The documentation must be wrong. – Shinrai – 2010-11-29T17:32:57.707