How much ram can my cpu use?

[MomoruSora]

 Hello,

 I have a pre-built pc that was purchased maybe 3-4 years ago. It has a AMD FX 4100 4-Core Processor. It came with two 4gb ram sticks but recently one died i guess? My pc would only use 2 gb from it instead of the full four and i would have some problems. If possible i'd want to replace it with more than just another 4gb stick (i don't know if having two stick of a different amount is a bad thing). Ive never built a pc nor have had to switch out ram so im hoping a kind user from here can tell me how i can figure out what is the maximum amount of ram my cpu can use. Im not trying to put the maximum but it would be nice to know. Thank you and happy new year!

[-iSynthesis]

If you have 2 sticks of the same size, they will run in dual-channel mode which will make them faster. (provided they are in the same color matching dimm slots). 

You can use 2 different size Ram Dimms (f.e. one 4gb and one 8gb). You can usually check the maximum Ram amount supported on the website of AMD, often Motherboards limit this aswell however (f.e. if it only has 2 dimm slots). It is probably 32gb with that CPU, not 100% sure though and you will never need that much with such a low end CPU anyways. And if you mean how large those single dimms can actually be, this is usually listed on motherboard manual/website.

[runit3]

@MomoruSora You'll likely be limited by whatever MOBO that came with the computer rather than the chip. I would guess if it's an HP, Dell, or any other OEM 16GB is going to be your max (maybe 32GB). As long as you're not hosting a game server or using VM's 8GB should be sufficient for nearly anything you do. Just pick up a 1600MHz 2x4GB kit for cheap and replace both DIMM's.

[MomoruSora]

i have a gigabyte ga-78lmt-s2 motherboard. i dint know the motherboard can limit the amount i can use. I was hoping if i could at lease use 16gb. Thank you both!

[-iSynthesis]

i have a gigabyte ga-78lmt-s2 motherboard. i dint know the motherboard can limit the amount i can use. I was hoping if i could at lease use 16gb. Thank you both!

Yeah, 16gb will most likely be no problem. Some motherboards only have 2 dimms and with older platforms, max dimm size is often 8gb, but even then you would have 16gb

[QuantumWrench]

Sometimes there are surprises in life.  I have experienced a few of them with memory. Mostly, memory controllers are built to the specifications available to them, which doesn't always match up with the current manufacturing processes and densities. In the olden days of DDR2 and NB, a couple boards I got were limited to 2x1GB or 2x2GB per channel in their documentation. They fully supported 2x4GB as well, however that density was not yet available. The mfg could not effectively test it, so they nerfed it on paper.

 

You can mix-n-match speeds and capacities often. Do not expect the best performance, and expect some pairings will just not work together. What is supported and what works, are sometimes different. If you have a stick of some odd memory available, providing they're the same technology, try it.

 

Sometimes you have to drive around on a funny looking spare tire until you get the right kind.