Exceeding the MSI laptop RAM capacity limit
Exceeding the MSI laptop RAM capacity limit
Hello, I realize I might have made a mistake here. This was just a curiosity-driven experiment. My machine is an MSI GE66 Raider 11UH-227, a 11th generation Intel laptop. I'm working on astrophotography image stacking and pushed the available RAM to its limit. Since it's an older model, the 32GB should still be affordable today. I checked online and found that the system supports up to 64GB of DDR4 memory in two sticks at 3200MHz. When I tried purchasing a 128GB kit, the price was around $97 USD, while a 64GB option cost about $109 USD. For fun, I bought the larger one. Inside the laptop, it appears to recognize only half the capacity—32GB per stick—and the total memory shows up as 64GB in Linux but only 32GB when booting. I’m puzzled because it seems to be using just half of what it claims. I’d prefer everything to function properly, but I’m unsure how to fix this. I also wonder if there’s a way around the limitation.
Only up to 32GB per stick is supported even on desktops, which explains why it doesn’t fully utilize 64GB DIMMs. The issue seems tied to Intel’s microcode rather than the memory controller, since it managed to boot. In the early DDR3 period (Socket 775 era), the processor couldn’t handle larger capacity DIMMs—4GB and 2GB on both sides—and the system would crash. It’s unclear how the 6th generation handled this since 16GB DDR3 modules that didn’t register are extremely uncommon.
That's clear! It's great you're keeping the 128GB option handy for future needs.
Well, you're correct! It might have been a bit rushed ordering when I was exhausted. I thought I saw 128GB kits last night, but now I'm double-checking and it doesn't match what's in my laptop. Sorry for the confusion. I'm not sure if it's polite to end this discussion, but I was mistaken.