I'm putting together a new PC featuring a 9950x3D CPU and a GIGABYTE X870E AORUS Elite WIFI7 motherboard. While shopping for parts, I didn't realize that the CPU can only handle a maximum of 192GB of RAM, but I bought a 256GB kit that the motherboard supports. The price gap for going from 192GB to 256GB was about $40, so I'm curious: if I install the 256GB RAM, will the CPU limit it to 192GB, or could this create problems?
4 Answers
Using 256GB can work, but expect some hiccups. People have gotten it to post, but AM5 can struggle with four DIMMs in place. If you go this route, keep an eye on the RAM speeds too. You may want to consider if your workloads should really be running on one machine.
Why do you need so much RAM, though? That's a hefty amount! But if you're running a development environment with 6 VMs and tons of Docker containers, I get it. Just make sure you've actually got UDIMM sticks, as AM5 uses those. If you messed up and bought RDIMM sticks instead, they won't fit your motherboard. Also, keep in mind that using four sticks can slow things down compared to two. You might face stability issues if you push the RAM at high speeds too.
Honestly, there's a good chance your setup won't even boot with that much RAM. I'd suggest sticking to the 192GB limit to be safe. And really, just double-check if you even need all that RAM, it’s a lot to handle for most applications!
It's possible it will work, but be prepared for some performance hits due to the number of sticks. Less sticks can often mean better speeds. You might want to think about whether you need all that RAM in one system, or if splitting it across two systems might be a better plan.
Yeah, I need all the resources I can get for my workloads. My current 128GB isn't cutting it anymore!