Does 5960X CPU support 128 GB RAM?

[mirkoj]

Hello,
I'm looking all over and I'm getting different answers to same Q.
I was wondering if anyone here can confirm or deny it.
Got asus rampage V extreme with 5960X and currently 64GB RAM., I would need to upgrade to 128GB but completely unsure if it is supported and replacing whole system just for that is not a road I would go with right now.
So does 5960X support 128 GB of RAM?
Thanks

[Malahmen]

Hello,
I'm looking all over and I'm getting different answers to same Q.
I was wondering if anyone here can confirm or deny it.
Got asus rampage V extreme with 5960X and currently 64GB RAM., I would need to upgrade to 128GB but completely unsure if it is supported and replacing whole system just for that is not a road I would go with right now.
So does 5960X support 128 GB of RAM?
Thanks

Intel says 64GB.
https://ark.intel.com/products/82930...up-to-3_50-GHz

[jbhowlesr]

I think currently that only Xeon Processors support above 64Gb of ram. This limitation is also expressed in the operating being used. Correct me if I am wrong but windows 10 supports a max of 64GB while Windows Server 2012 and 2016 supports more than that. I believe some version of Linux also support greater than 64GB of ram.

[rtgllc]

Only the kernel itself should impose a software-based limit to RAM support under Linux. On a 64-bit Linux install, you should be able to get up to 1 TB of RAM, maybe more?

Any limit lower than that is strictly due to hardware.

[Praz]

Hello

Win10 Pro supports up to 2TB of ram. There are quite a few of us that have been using 128GB of memory with the 5960X/6950X on both the Rampage V Extreme and Edition 10.

[mirkoj]

Praz,
So actually 5960X actually can support it?
See this is what I mean t with all the confusing replies. I know that Intel says 64GB only, but then also seeing claims that people are using it so was hoping for first hand experience.
I will be getting new system in couple months but I would still need this one to upgrade if possible.

[Arne Saknussemm]

Only confusing if you listen to the wrong people...

http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread...page-V-Extreme

As always the higher the number of modules the harder the memory controller has to work so probably best to go with the lower end of frequency range...unless you know your IMC is golden.

[jbhowlesr]

it should be caveated here that nothing will stop you from inserting more than 64GB or ram. The problem is whether or not the system will physically recognize it. Plus, unless you are storing your OS in the ram using it as a ram drive, there really isn't any big benefit to having more than 32GB of ram IMO. There may be a few applications out there that might take advantage of it but for the average user using average programs, anymore than 32GB of ram ends up for bragging rights more than anything else. I currently run a 4 x 4GB ram setup on my I7-5820k. All my ram is PC-3200 Dominator platinum and I have not seen one instance with software utilities where my ram became over burdened or full. However, I mainly use my PC for games and writing code and at most I see only 75% memory utilization.

Wrapping all this into a neat little package. I will never tell anyone not to try something. I will only ever stress my own experience. Yours may be different however which makes for interesting debate. I am however interested is seeing if there is actually some benefit to high amounts of ram.

Another user stated that high amounts of ram over stresses you systems memory controller which is absolutely true. Another point to mention here is that ram in DDR functions in a similar manner to the way a RAID- Stripe does in hard disks. The CPU essentially writes data to all the ram sticks in bit blocks, while going through the sticks consecutively one after the other. RAM writes themselves essentially are a one step operation where the ram is written completely full before writing out to the hard drives pagefile.sys and the overall time it takes the ram to complete one operation (fill till full and empty to pagefile.sys) constitutes what you could call the RAM's refresh rate. Smaller RAM amounts, typically refresh faster but require increased operations when working with high work loads that adds increased overall work time. The opposite is true with large quantities of ram where RAMS ability to refresh is slower but it can handle high works loads much easier. Overall, its about finding a happy medium for your own use. Typically speaking, 4x4gb or 4x8gb tends to be the sweet spot for most people. These folks running 64gb or 128gb of RAM may have a specific use for that so I will not denigrate them. It's all about what best suits your use.

[mirkoj]

Well so fart it seems just a bit too risky. Once I build new system and have new 128GB kit I can do test and see if it works to update later. Til then...
As for not neede part, man it really depends what is who doing with their system. At the moment I fill easily 60 GB RAM and need more as I'm rendering and start couple isntances of 3D program in the background for that. So 32 GB isn't even option to think about It is even not question of benefit but pure need.

[Chino]

I've been running 128GB of RAM for a while now. You don't have to worry about support. Both the CPU and motherboard can run a 128GB kit.

Higher frequencies will most probably require more manual tweaking. Get a kit in the range of 2400MHz and you might get lucky and won't have to tweak anything.