Will 8GB RAM stick work if my motherboard has limit of 16GB (for 4 slots)?

This one is quite tricky and I can't find any decent information source/documentation.

I have Gigabyte motherboard from 2008: Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P rev. 1.0.

It has 4 RAM slots and total limit of RAM of 16 GB.

My question is - what if I buy 2 8 GB sticks. Will they work? Because if there's limit of 16 GB, it gives 4 GB per slot. How does motherboard RAM limits work, is it slot-dependent or more likely this is the top limit of chipset so even 16 GB stick would work?

I've been looking for info about AMD 770 chipset itself but I can't find any public documentation anywhere.

There's memory support list for my mobo, but it's really outdated.

Any ideas, hints, anything? :)

Thanks a lot!

archieDB

Posted 2014-05-11T12:33:31.017

Reputation: 91

1Check the manual for the motherboard for supported memory configurations. 2 8GB is unlikely to work. – Ramhound – 2014-05-11T13:30:11.937

Answers

The Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P main board will only accept memory modules with a size of 4GB or less in pairs of 2 for best performance. This is a limitation of the AMD 770 + SB710 Chipset see AMD support.

Just to clarify, it is possible that an 8GB memory module will work in your system, however it is unlikely you will find one that is compatible. Even worse it would most likely require you to run them in slots 1 and 3 instead of 1 and 2. This would dramatically decrease the performance of your machine.

nullmem

Posted 2014-05-11T12:33:31.017

Reputation: 310

AMD's product page confirms this answer: http://products.amd.com/en-us/MotherboardDetail.aspx?id=339&f1=AMD+770&f2=1xPCI-E+2.0+x16&f3=No&f4=No&f5=ATX&f6=Yes&f7=GIGABYTE&f10=AM3

– bjanssen – 2014-05-11T13:37:38.800

1The link provided by @bjanssen is the type of source that makes a good answer great. By citing the source of the information you've provided, you build a better case for correctness. Welcome to SU. – Raystafarian – 2014-05-11T15:17:47.437

Also, that document shows it is quite old and says other brands and types have been left out. I still think 8gb could work as well. – LPChip – 2014-05-11T17:18:55.777

1I'm kind of confused as I can't really see these limits. Where is it on that AMD page? All I see is 4xDDR3 which tells me absolutely nothing. Also, why would sticks in slots 1 / 3 will be slower thn in 1 / 2? No dual channel? Is that so important? Because I was going to buy one stick anyway for now, so no dual channel for me anyway :> I guess 8 GB (or 8+2+2 if will work) would be still better than 2x2GB in dual? :P – archieDB – 2014-05-11T22:13:27.097

@archieDB 8+2+2 would defiantly disable dual channel memory. This would be a deal breaker for me as a reduction of 50% in memory performance would be painfully noticeable. – nullmem – 2014-05-12T01:06:27.807

@nullmem: That 50% difference is an ideal, when bulk accessing RAM with no cache-hits, processing delay/latency, or waits for other hardware. You'll only really see more than one-or-two percent difference when performing simple number crunching over large in-memory data sets (so not in games, or most database work, or general use generally). See http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1349-ram-how-dual-channel-works-vs-single-channel/Page-3 and http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/1fcs77/discussion_ram_single_vs_dual_channel_speed/ for examples of anecdotal evidence.

– David Spillett – 2014-05-12T09:04:56.020

@DavidSpillett I won't argue that there is a strong case to be made about the diminishing returns of single channel vs. dual channel in a modern system. Actually with manufactures getting a much higher yield on higher frequency chips these days, I believe dual channel will eventually be phased out. However, the original question was about a 6-year old motherboard, which won't even support 1666Mhz without over-clocking the processor. I can assure you that the performance difference on the system in question will be more than 1% – nullmem – 2014-05-12T09:41:24.020

It should work. As far as I know memory slots do not set the limit, but the chipset behind it do. (their software allocates the memory) so 2 sticks of 8 GB should in theory work. But the best solution here is to just contact the company where you are planning on buying it and ask them if it will work and if you can return the memory for 4x4 if you find out it won't work.

And yes, as I think its the chipset that limits it, 1x16 gb would also work, but dual channel is always faster. 4x4 may actually be the fastest option.

LPChip

Posted 2014-05-11T12:33:31.017

Reputation: 42 190

1I can't upvote you and don't really know why anybody would downvote you :/ Anyway I've been searching for a while and looks like you might be right as people have older mobos and stick huge amounts of RAM. Some even install 20GB for mobos limited at 16GB... – archieDB – 2014-05-11T22:15:23.807

Thanks @archieDB. Thats exactly my point. The page on AMD is really old and I'm pretty sure thats why it isn't showing the higher models memory. I have a very old motherboard, and the page then showed only 2 gig sticks. I installed 2x4 + 2x2 and now have 12 gb of ram working perfectly. – LPChip – 2014-05-12T12:39:23.943