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I was reading the RAM specifications for my motherboard, an Intel DH61CR, here, but I don't really understand what it is saying.

It says "16 GB maximum total system memory (with 4 Gb memory technology)".

The board has two RAM slots, so I assume that to get 16GB RAM I would install 2 8GB DDR3 sticks. But what does the "with 4 Gb memory technology" part mean? If I install two 4GB sticks of RAM, that would only be 8GB of RAM wouldn't it?

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  • SDRAM density=(RAM capacity/Chip count)*8. A 4 GB RAM with a total number of 16 chips has a 2 Gbit density, whereas 4 GB RAM with a total number of 8 chips has a 4 Gbit density. In the context of your question, you need an 8 GB stick with 16 chips (i.e., eight on each side of the RAM module). Nov 17, 2023 at 16:08

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If you'd read a bit further down you might understand that "4Gb memory technology" means "SDRAM Density", there is a list of supported memory configurations below that spec list you pointed out. It explains this.

The highest supported memory unit is 8GB Double Sided(Means there are memory chips on both sides of the stick) 4Gb (SDRAM Density) RAM organized with 8x512Mb chips on each side of the RAM stick.

The way I understood it, SDRAM Density refers to the amount of memory stacked on one side of a RAM stick.

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  • Thanks for your help. It's doesn't explain things that well, and I've never had to order RAM before, so kind of confused. I currently have 6GB (a 2GB and a 4GB) of RAM, that configuration is not listed on that page. Under "DIMM Capacity" the maximum listed there is 8GB. The board is supposed to support 16GB. Are the numbers listed under "DIMM Capacity" per memory slot, or in total? I assumed it was in total. If it's per slot then 8GB in each slot makes sense. Is that how I'm supposed to be reading this table? Feb 2, 2016 at 5:29
  • @SherwinFlight they are per DIMM (Per memory slot), it is what each DIMM supports on it's own.
    – Cestarian
    Feb 2, 2016 at 5:30
  • Ok, thank you so much. One last thing, I always thought that both RAM sticks were supposed to be the same size. Is it ok to mix a 4GB and an 8GB as long as each of them is supported by my board? Feb 2, 2016 at 5:33
  • @SherwinFlight basically any 8GB DDR3 stick that has 8 chips on each side (all I've ever seen were organized that way) should work. And yes, it is ok to mix ram stick sizes and brands (but you do ideally want them to have the same timings and hz settings, your motherboard will default to the lowest hz setting of either stick, and having different timings can cause all kinds of memory issues)
    – Cestarian
    Feb 2, 2016 at 5:33

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