memory question

[jokka37]

i have a asus m2n-vm dvi mobo
amd athalon 64x2 dual core 4200+2.2 ghz
nvidia geforce 7050 pv/ nvidia nforce 630a
4 dimm slots
4gb 2 x 2gb ddr2 sdram pc6400 800mhz
in the manual and system info it says it supports up to 8gb ddrsram
company i bought it from told me it supports 4gb max but asus says it can go up to 8gb. If i put 4 more gbs of same ram will it hurt my computer? Also does it have to be the same brand or could i just use the same specs. different brand? thanks in advance

 

[eyeCpc]

Dual channel memory architecture
4 x 240-pin DIMM, support max. 8GB DDR2 800/667/533 ECC, Non-ECC, un-buffered memory
*When installing total memory of 4GB capacity or more, Windows 32-bit operation system may only recognize less than 3GB. Hence, a total installed memory of less than 3GB is recommended. ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

That comes right from the specifications seen at Asus for that model board showing a maximum of 8gb of memory in 4 dimm slots. When you need information the best place is always the manufacturer's own site. Often vendor pages will have misprints on things.

The ideal but not always the mandatory is seeing all dimms comes from the same manufacturer's batch of memory and pretested together. In real world terms often brands are mixed as long as the type, CAS Latency, and voltages are the same.

The best with four dimms would be simply buying two identical pairs of 2gb dimms to see 8gb. The actual need for more then 2-3gb on a desktop is mainly for someone like a rocket scientist or software engineer using CAD or other "memory hungry" programs.

Even with the 64bit editions of Windows the softwares and games out don't come close to seeing a need for large amount of ram. In some cases that can actually become more of a performance hinderance.

 

[jokka37]

thanks for that info, appreciated

i got vista home pre 64bit

 

[eyeCpc]

The 64bit edition will handle the larger amount of memory while the chipsets on many boards can be a problem. Newer models seeing updated chipsets are designed to work on boards seeing the larger capacity while a good number of boards currently out use a chipset intended for the 2-4gb max. capacity.

On many even while running a 64bit edition and seeing 8gb installed only 7gb is recognised by the board itself. The Home Premium 64 is good to go for 8-16gb on the other hand. In fact some new systems sold at or through membership clubs are now seeing 5gb of memory.