I'm in the process of building a new PC with a 9950X CPU and a GIGABYTE X870E AORUS Elite WIFI7 motherboard. I mistakenly bought 256GB of RAM, not realizing that the 9950X has a maximum memory support of 192GB. The motherboard can support 256GB, but I'm curious about what will happen if I install the extra RAM. Will the processor limit the usable RAM to 192GB, or could there be other complications?
6 Answers
Why do you need so much RAM anyway? What are you planning to do with it?
It might work, but have you considered the actual use case? Maybe running everything locally isn't the way to go if you need that much RAM.
Just a heads up—make sure your RAM sticks are UDIMM and not RDIMM. AM5 primarily uses UDIMM, and you won't be able to use RDIMM sticks on your motherboard. Most available options for AM5 are 48GB max per stick anyway.
Honestly, there's a good chance your PC won't boot if the RAM exceeds what the CPU supports. Better to play it safe. Also, seriously reconsider if you really need that much RAM; it's a lot!
If you use four sticks instead of two, be aware that you'll likely face a performance hit. Tuning four sticks can be trickier, so if you can, go with two larger sticks for better performance.
Are you suggesting I just go for two 128GB sticks?
Installing 256GB may work, but there’s a good chance you won't get stable speeds with it. Some users have run this setup before, but be prepared for potential issues, especially with booting. You might want to consider if you need to switch to a Threadripper setup for such high RAM amounts.
I'm setting up a development environment with six VMs and a bunch of Docker containers running. My current setup with 128GB just isn't cutting it.