How much memory can an i5 3230m (and i3 2328m) cpu use? Inconsistent info is on the net

[chosenbygrace]

CPUBoss.com says that i5 can use 16GB ram max, crucial.com for a certain laptop indicates it is 8GB, I didn't look at the ram type specifically so many it's ram type dependant and crucial isn't selling it or the laptop motherboard doesn't support it, and Intel's page on the 3230m says that depending on the ram type, it can handle up to 32GB! More confusing, and perhaps indicating CPUBoss is not that reliable, is that it says the i3 2328m can only use up to 8GB of ram, yet on crucial, for a certain type of laptop it sells a 16GB kit (and shows no other options)! The heck is going on? I'm not saying the specific laptops because the only two I can afford that can do what I want use these two types of CPUs and there's only one of each available at that price, so trying to keep others from finding them at the moment till I can buy one of them.

 

[JOOK-D]

It can technically support up to 32GB of RAM.
The amount it can physically use will depend on the motherboard it's used in and how many DIMM slots it has. DIMMs are the memory modules/sticks themselves - these can come in multiple sizes: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB for example. The number of DIMM slots that the motherboard of the laptop has will dictate how much memory it can support.

 

[clayofthe757]

Operating systems can hinder your maximum RAM as well. If you want massive memory be sure you have a 64 bit operating system.