>8GB RAM on 15" Corei7 doable?

[zanax]

What I am asking out of pure curiosity is given the current official RAM limit for 2010 MBPs is 8GB (and thats what I got) if it can be pushed towards 16GB, the current max for laptops like HP envy etc. I read some folks have been successful in bringing the RAM upto 6GB on older 4GB max machines; hence the curiosity.

I use VirtualBox VM for XP (2GB assigned) and Linux (2GB assigned), w/ Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Firefox, Thunderbird simultaneously. I know I'll better off running a proper desktop but I have to be on the move pretty often.


P.S. I had been a linux user on a IBM T43p machine for the last 3yrs so don't flame me for mentioning HP Envy, it could well be any other brand that might support 8GB+ RAM.

 

[Eidorian]

The 15/17" HP Envy models have 4 RAM slots.

 

[Hellhammer]

The 15/17" HP Envy models have 4 RAM slots.

And maximum of 16GB? There are no 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs available and if there ever were, they are going to be VERY expensive plus I don't know does the chipset even support 8GB modules

 

[Eidorian]

And maximum of 16GB? There are no 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMMs available and if there ever were, they are going to be VERY expensive plus I don't know does the chipset even support 8GB modules

4 x 4 GB for a 16 GB configuration. I haven't seen 8 GB density SO-DIMMs, yet.

RAM densities over 4 GB are looking into server territory.

 

[alust2013]

Yeah, you would need more slots. Biggest module made is 4GB, so in theory you might be able to, but you won't find anything to upgrade with.

 

[Hellhammer]

4 x 4 GB for a 16 GB configuration. I haven't seen 8 GB density SO-DIMMs, yet.

RAM densities over 4 GB are looking into server territory.

Mm. AFAIK, Lynnfield (i5/i7 used in iMacs) doesn't support more than 4x4GB (no 8GB DIMM support) so would be ridiculous if Arrandale did. 8GB DIMMs would cost more than MBP would so not really worth it

 

[Eidorian]

Mm. AFAIK, Lynnfield (i5/i7 used in iMacs) doesn't support more than 4x4GB (no 8GB DIMM support) so would be ridiculous if Arrandale did. 8GB DIMMs would cost more than MBP would so not really worth it

There are a handful of P55 based motherboards that have 6 RAM slots. 6 sticks x 4 GB of RAM for a total of 24 GB. It'd still be in a dual channel configuration though.

4 GB density RAM appears to be the upper limit single socket systems.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

The 15/17" HP Envy models have 4 RAM slots.

I've wondered this too about the Macs. If compatible 8 GB DIMMs come out, will the MBP's be able to address it. And, why don't the MBP's have four slots?

 

[robbieduncan]

And, why don't the MBP's have four slots?

Lack of space.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

Mm. AFAIK, Lynnfield (i5/i7 used in iMacs) doesn't support more than 4x4GB (no 8GB DIMM support) so would be ridiculous if Arrandale did. 8GB DIMMs would cost more than MBP would so not really worth it

Memory prices are back up now, but, will drop again in the future-- they always have. Is there an addressing limit on this type of DIMM?

 

[Hellhammer]

There are a handful of P55 based motherboards that have 6 RAM slots. 6 sticks x 4 GB of RAM for a total of 24 GB. It'd still be in a dual channel configuration though.

4 GB density RAM appears to be the upper limit single socket systems.

Not true. I found 3 at NewEgg. Although they have 6 slots, the limit is still 16GB

 

[Hellhammer]

Memory prices are back up now, but, will drop again in the future-- they always have. Is there an addressing limit on this type of DIMM?

Well, 8GB would be like 1000$ per module... As Eidorian said, single sockets only support seem to support 4GB modules so it's very unlikely that 8GB module would work

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

What I am asking out of pure curiosity is given the current official RAM limit for 2010 MBPs is 8GB (and thats what I got) if it can be pushed towards 16GB, the current max for laptops like HP envy etc. I read some folks have been successful in bringing the RAM upto 6GB on older 4GB max machines; hence the curiosity.

I use VirtualBox VM for XP (2GB assigned) and Linux (2GB assigned), w/ Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Firefox, Thunderbird simultaneously. I know I'll better off running a proper desktop but I have to be on the move pretty often.


P.S. I had been a linux user on a IBM T43p machine for the last 3yrs so don't flame me for mentioning HP Envy, it could well be any other brand that might support 8GB+ RAM.

As more organizations go with single-laptop-per-employee strategies, and, flexible workspaces, there will be more demand for do-everything laptops. A rule of thumb for some time has been 2 GB per thread. That makes 8 GB pretty logical for a 2-core 4-thread MBP, but, precisely because of the rise of VM's, and, not having multiple machines as in the past, I think the option to add more memory makes sense.

 

[Eidorian]

Not true. I found 3 at NewEgg. Although they have 6 slots, the limit is still 16GB

It does look like 16 GB is the limit.

 

[DoFoT9]

It does look like 16 GB is the limit.

very depressing. i was hoping that the iMacs would support maybe 32GB. but nope, silly intel and their stupid specifications. thanks.