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Old January 1st 18, 08:21 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
VanguardLH[_2_]
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Default SOCHOX 8GB DDR2 PC2-6400 800Mhz DIMM AMD

Norm X wrote:

Happy New Year,

My old Intel MOBO has accepted many upgrades but is stuck at 4GB RAM. Even
though prohibited, Win10 works reliably on one stick SOCHOX 4GB 667MHz DDR2
AMD, the past couple of years. However, when two such modules are plugged
in, Win10 boots until it panics and flashes a QR code error and shuts down.
Paul has attributed such failure to power supply inadequacies of Intel MOBO
versus AMD.

Still wanting the best that can be achieved with least money, I came across
"SOCHOX 8GB DDR2 PC2-6400 800Mhz DIMM AMD " on eBay. It comes in a two
module 16GB package, while I only need 8GB. At first blush, 800MHz seems
better than 667MHz. Current CPU-Z output says this newer RAM module may be a
good idea.

Comments?


The reason there is a limit on the total capacity of system memory on
the mobo (besides power distribution constraints) is there just aren't
the necessary address lines to beyond that maximum addressable range.
The 4 GB limit means 32 address lines (2^32 = 4 GB) on the mobo. If the
mobo doesn't physically have more address lines (which go to each
module/slot for interleaving) then you cannot get beyond 4 GB. When you
add the 2nd module, and due to interleaving or dual mode or both, you're
trying to use more capacity than the mobo can handle.

If the mobo says its addressing limit is 4 GB, that means the total
across all slots. Doesn't matter if you use only 1 slot or all 2 or 4
slots. Yeah, it's sad when you see the unused slots and want to fill
them but if you've maxed out the memory addressable range of the mobo
then you didn't plan well back when you bought the mobo for the
foreseeable future of owning that mobo. If you want more system RAM,
you need to get a mobo that specs out to handle it.

Also, despite going higher on the memory module's clock rate, there is
no way the mobo is going to magically handle clock rates higher than
what its own clock can handle. You can get a bigger bucket but it's
still going to get filled only as much as before with the smaller
bucket. Only if you plan on overclocking the mobo and hope it, the CPU,
and memory are stable at the higher clock rate does it make sense to get
the higher clockable memory (because you then aren't overclocking that
memory but are overclocking the CPU -- unless the mobo gives separate
clock dividers for CPU and memory but the mismatch means the CPU has to
wait to get in sync so you don't gain much, if anything, and could
actually slow the PC).

If you want more system RAM than what your current mobo can handle at
its designed max of 4 GB, you need a new mobo. If you overclock,
getting higher clockable memory means one less component to go unstable.
That's like one sane guy in a house of crazies. If you don't overclock
then only bother with higher clockable memory modules if they are priced
the same or sometimes cheaper than the max clock modules the mobo
specifies (yep, sometimes the higher clockable modules are cheaper then
the slower modules). A $1.2M Hennessey Venom GT that goes 0 to 149 and
back to 0 in 30 seconds but stuck in rush-hour traffic is a sad joke.

To get more system RAM means a new mobo. A new mobo also means you can
go to higher clockable DDR4 memory modules.