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I see in multiple webshops that this MSI Z87 G41 PC Mate mobo has an attribute called Max Allocated RAM Size: 1760 MB

What does this mean? Can the motherbord handle maximum 1760MB memory in total, per memory module or per process? or something else?

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  • I don't understand your question. The maximum amount of memory the motherboard supports is 64GB which means each DDR module can support 16GB (64/4=16). The attribute your talking about is connected to the Intel Graphics 4000 HD capability.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 1, 2013 at 14:44
  • How do you know that attribute is connected to the intel HD graphics? Webshops pretent it's just another attribute of the board itself. From the webpages themselves I can't see that property belongs to the videocard.
    – Forza
    Nov 1, 2013 at 14:50
  • However, I've read the link @Adrian posted, and it looks like you are correct on this one. I've one more question though: If you disable this onboard videocard, will all the memory be available for the operating system? Will nothing be preserved for a videocard I don't use?
    – Forza
    Nov 1, 2013 at 14:51
  • I checked the manufacturers website and the motherboard manual. However I can not find that text anywhere. The closest I get is page 3-8 "Selects a fixed amount of system memory allocated to the on board graphics. This item defines the exact memory size shared to the on board graphics." Is this the text or is it simply not in the manual?
    – Hennes
    Nov 1, 2013 at 14:55
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    @Forza - As to how I know its connected to the Intel Graphics 4000 HD the simple answer is that I am familiar with how the Intel Graphics 4000 HD works. If you disable it then the Intel Graphics 4000 HD wouldn't be assigned any memory because its disabled.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 1, 2013 at 15:36

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On older boards way-back-when which only supported 2GB RAM in total this sort of thing referred to what you would expect to see after on-board video hardware and other devices and consumed some.

On a modern board like this (which supports 64GB as the other specs state) this refers to what memory can be allocated to the on-board GPU - so you might put 8GB in there but only see ~6.25 GB available to OS/apps/games as the GPU has claimed the remainder for its work. You usually have some control over what the GPU does claim, and of course if you completely replace its function with an add-on card (which you likely will if building a machine for gaming) it should take 0.

This information is normally listed with or directly after the name/model of GPU in a specs sheet, I assume that line has been missed out by mistake in this case (either a mistake on the seller's part or due to them copying a bad list from the manufacturer's blurb) leading to a little confusion.

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  • Thx for the clarification :) All shops I saw today placed that attribute just somewhere in the list (not directly after the GPU name, if they even mention that). But thx, it's good to know that attribute belongs to the onboard card :)
    – Forza
    Nov 1, 2013 at 14:58
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I believe this is related to allocating memory to on-board or on-chip (haswell etc.) GPUs which share system memory. The figure relates to the largest amount of system memory you can allocate across as extra memory for the GPU, in addition to any on-chip or on-board GFX memory.

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