Windows 7 64-Bit Ram Limits?

[zachwildcat]

So I was completely unaware that windows 7 had a 16gb limit? I have plenty of room to go to 32 or even 64 but I just wanted to put in two more 8gb sticks. Am I forced to upgrade to windows 10 to go past 16gbs of ram? I'm a bit upset at my novice understanding of computers. Anyone help me out on this?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

30 seconds on Google: physical_memory_limits_windows_7

For comparison: physical_memory_limits_windows_10


However, bear in mind that Windows 7 is End of Life, and, 16GB is more than enough for >90% of all use cases.

 

[thx1138v2]

Theoretically you could access 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes. In practice that is limited by the motherboard and the CPU in that motherboard since the memory controllers are in the CPUs now. So the limit is imposed by your motherboard or CPU and not Windows 7. So check both of those and the lower number of the two is what you can use.

My Windows 7 64-bit ASUS motherboard that has only 2 sockets supports up to 32GB (2X16GB). If you've got 4 sockets I imagine it will support at least 64GB, but check the manual.

No update to Windows 10 required.

 

[gamerk316]

Theoretically you could access 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 bytes. In practice that is limited by the motherboard and the CPU in that motherboard since the memory controllers are in the CPUs now. So the limit is imposed by your motherboard or CPU and not Windows 7. So check both of those and the lower number of the two is what you can use.

My Windows 7 64-bit ASUS motherboard that has only 2 sockets supports up to 32GB (2X16GB). If you've got 4 sockets I imagine it will support at least 64GB, but check the manual.

No update to Windows 10 required.

In theory yes, though in Win 7 MSFT intentionally put a 16GB limit on Home Premium versions of the OS.