Is RAM determined solely by CPU?

I know what you're saying. When I bought two Inspiron desktops last year for my parents, Dell's site wouldn't give actual model numbers until you added them to your cart and checked the detailed info button.
 
I like how modern systems still have the problem that manufacturers purposefully gimp the system to limit the amount of ram expansion .

It’s similar to the old laptop I had at work that came with 8gb of memory from the factory and it was socketed, except that the max memory already was 8gb as no larger module existed

Feels like 1979 all over again, except that it’s hard to bypass the limit by soldering in new memory
 
The memory controller (MCH, previously handled as part of the Northbridge package) has been folded into the CPU by both Intel and AMD for a very long time, I believe Intel's first was Nehalem, around 2008. My Westmere in my Mac Pro has the on-die MCH as part of the CPU package for example. This appeared in the consumer space with Lynnfield in 2009 (i5/i7). The mobile version was the i7 Clarksfield, based on the same architecture, also launched in 2009.

My Mac is exactly one of those computers with "soft" limits I mentioned earlier. When it was released, the maximum memory was thought to be 32GB. There are guys who have now managed to get 96GB working in the single CPU systems.

They still have separate chipset groups developing it, but of course the thing these days is the packaging of chipsets and dies in the same package. Back when I was starting out, the supposed revolution was multi-chip modules that were supposed to be bare die packaged together in one package.

Macs have been odd forever, although a lot of the limits have have been with the chipset (and its configuration) more than anything else. I had a Mac that had a published limit of 4 GB, which I maxed out. But people testing the system have been able to get 6 GB (but not 8 GB) to work. My current MacBook Pro is the last series made that still has a 2.5" SATA drive and SODIMMs. Apple officially says that 8 GB is the limit, but 16 GB is the commonly understood limit.
 
Some laptops, I think the vast majority built in the last few years are not RAM upgradeable. They actually solder the ram chips onto the motherboard. That's the case with the one I'm typing on right now which was a (near) top of the line Dell when I bought it. I didn't put as much RAM in it as I could have, because I figured I could always add more later. When I decided it was time to add more I realized that wasn't an option. If your laptop does have socketed RAM, both the CPU and the motherboard could be limiting factors based on how it is set up.

Depends. I remember early Apple computers had a RAM on the main board, although it might have been on sockets where they could have been replaced if faulty, but not necessarily upgraded for more. An old Apple II Plus I used at a family member's house was 48 KB, but could be upgraded with 16 KB in an expansion card. My first computer was an Apple //c, which only came with a standard 128 KB that was definitely soldered to the main board. I had heard of some upgrades, but they were really weird and required disassembly, which Apple didn't approve of.

I had a couple of Apple notebook computers that had standard RAM soldered to the main board, along with an expansion slot that accepted a single SODIMM. They maxed out with added RAM that was more than built in. I think one was 128 MB built in, but the expansion slot took 128/256/512 MB. Or my next one that was 512 MB built in, but up to 1 GB expansion. And it was easy to add on since it just tucked in under the keyboard, and only needed a #00 Phillips screwdriver and a small flathead screwdriver (or maybe even a fingernail).
 
Some of the thin laptops can't even be serviced, they are glued together.

Never heard of that yet. All iPads have been glued since the first model. So were the early iPhones until the iPhone 4. And with an iPad, there is no "servicing". They replace it. If it needs a new battery or it's trashed somehow, it just gets replaced. Only if it needs a new battery and everything works and looks find, they only charge a "battery service" price. Then they send them in where they have people pry them open with heat guns to remove the glue. I actually had an iPad repaired by a third party. It was actually a decent looking job, although there was a bit of excess glue.

However, with how thin some new laptops are, there really isn't an incentive to put in memory slots that will be 2-3 mm thicker. And one issue is that sometimes it's the slot that a point of failure compared to soldering being considerably more secure.

However, there are a lot of things done to make it harder. Apple has pentalobe screws, and the batteries are glued to the top case that contains the keyboard. When it comes time to replace the battery, it's a complete service where the top case is exchanged. They simply don't want to handle all the solvents needed to remove a battery in the back of the store. They handle that at central locations. And they will either provide a new keyboard or one that's refurbished with new keys replacing anything that are severely worn. I've had my current computer for 7 years, and several of the keys have rubbed off. Also - the trackpad doesn't have a secure click any more, although I use a mouse. However, mine has Phillips head screws, although the battery is held in with tri-wing screws.
 
After issues with my laptop this last week, I started looking for a replacement. I was hoping to get it to last another year but at this point I'm not optimistic.

OK, when looking at new units, I am finding it hard to see the max allowable/upgradeable RAM limits, because sometimes the sites don't give the full model number (Dell is notoriously bad for this, giving me only something like "Inspiron 15" that won't let me know a specific model number to look up at crucial.com).

I have always thought that the max allowable RAM was determined by the motherboard. But when I went to the Intel site to compare their chips, they were giving RAM maximums there.

So my question: can I determine the max RAM for my new laptop by simply identifying the CPU and then looking that info up?

Crucial has an app that can tell you what ram is compatible, did you try that?
 
Well I cut the gordian knot by simply buying one with 32 gigs of RAM, so if I ever get to the point where that isn't enough, it should be fairly far down the road. If I can't upgrade the RAM I cant. But at least I know that day won't come for a while.

I was surprised at the number of laptops by Dell & HP that are being sold with only 8 gigs of RAM. I can only imagine that those are upgradeable, but still...
 
Although I understand the need for RAM, I must ask WHY the need for these massive amounts of RAM? I'm currently using an ancient HP laptop with a measly 4GB of physical RAM and have my virtual ram set to a minimum of 2500 and a max of 25000 MB. That's using a 250GB SSD which has about 75 gigs of free space.

My system runs flawlessly, other than when it gets extremely hot after extended periods of YT streaming while being starved of airflow as it sits on my lap.
 
Just having a web browser open and nothing much else important my computer running windows 11 is using 9gb, 16GB is about the minimum you need in a system these days. I've used an old core2 duo latop with 4gb of ram about a year ago with an SSD running the cut down "embedded industry pro" version of Windows 8.1 and it wasn't' very fast and you couldn't really multi task, it was clearly running very low on ram, maybe you're just very accustomed to the very slow old laptop and if you had to use a newer machine for a few weeks when you went back to the old one you'd see that it's not quite as useable as you think it is.
 
Just having a web browser open and nothing much else important my computer running windows 11 is using 9gb, 16GB is about the minimum you need in a system these days. I've used an old core2 duo latop with 4gb of ram about a year ago with an SSD running the cut down "embedded industry pro" version of Windows 8.1 and it wasn't' very fast and you couldn't really multi task, it was clearly running very low on ram, maybe you're just very accustomed to the very slow old laptop and if you had to use a newer machine for a few weeks when you went back to the old one you'd see that it's not quite as useable as you think it is.
Unless you have a bunch of tabs open, that’s really high RAM usage. My Asus has 16Gb of DDR4 in it, with Steam, a game, and Firefox streaming music in the background I still struggle to hit 9Gb+. Granted that’s using Windows 10.

The only time I’ve ran out of RAM was when I was editing WAV audio files on my MacBook Pro with 8Gb RAM, GarageBand didn’t like that much and it definitely slowed down.
 
Although I understand the need for RAM, I must ask WHY the need for these massive amounts of RAM? I'm currently using an ancient HP laptop with a measly 4GB of physical RAM and have my virtual ram set to a minimum of 2500 and a max of 25000 MB. That's using a 250GB SSD which has about 75 gigs of free space.

My system runs flawlessly, other than when it gets extremely hot after extended periods of YT streaming while being starved of airflow as it sits on my lap.

A lot of newer systems use integrated graphics, so that's really tapping into the system RAM for that. However, it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. And in some systems expanding is pretty cheap. While there are benefits to built-in that can't be expanded, it does get frustrating when there's no upgrade path and to get more it has to be at the OEM's prices
 
Processor can dictate maximum amount of memory, but number of memoy slots can too…

Apple iMac 2010 with I3 processor can support 16 gigs,
the I5 and I7 can support 32 gigs.
Changing the processor will allow you to double the memory…

Some Macs have only one or two slots, or the memory is soldered on.
The processor can support more, but you are unable to add it…

iTunes imports of music from CD’s are much faster with 20 gigs, than with 8 on my 2011 iMac…
 
Not sure why maximum RAM is so important to you, but the amount of RAM is hardly a limiting factor for normal computing needs these days and has been for a while now. 16GB is more than enough and 32GB is overkill, unless the laptop is used for specific tasks like CAD design or video editing. Even gaming doesn't require 32 gigs of RAM. RAM timings and latency are actually quite more beneficial, and even then the gains are very small.

Having said that, I can't imagine a half decent laptop not being able to support 32GB of RAM, unless one is looking at the very cheap models, in which case RAM would be the least of my worries. The only concern to me would be if the RAM is soldered on to the motherboard or not, but realistically speaking, if you get 32GB of RAM, that will be enough for the life cycle of a laptop, so weather it is soldered on or not would not matter to me.
 
Not sure why maximum RAM is so important to you, but the amount of RAM is hardly a limiting factor for normal computing needs these days and has been for a while now. 16GB is more than enough and 32GB is overkill, unless the laptop is used for specific tasks like CAD design or video editing. Even gaming doesn't require 32 gigs of RAM. RAM timings and latency are actually quite more beneficial, and even then the gains are very small.

Having said that, I can't imagine a half decent laptop not being able to support 32GB of RAM, unless one is looking at the very cheap models, in which case RAM would be the least of my worries. The only concern to me would be if the RAM is soldered on to the motherboard or not, but realistically speaking, if you get 32GB of RAM, that will be enough for the life cycle of a laptop, so weather it is soldered on or not would not matter to me.

This really depends on what a person is doing with the machine and how long one intends to keep it. I'm on a machine with 4gb of Ram right now, and I find it woefully inadequate. I run XFCE as a desktop environment to save ram, but I really multitask. I've typically got multiple browsers open, with many tabs open in each, and numerous pdfs, spreadsheets, and document files open as well. It fits the way I work and keeps me productive. I used to work on a computer 30 yrs ago that had 64MB and I still got things done, but software has gotten bloated over time and I've learned to make use of the increased power of the hardware. For some people 32GB might be way too much, but for others its quite practical.

Also, if one plans on keeping a machine for a long time, more RAM can add to a computers functional lifespan. It may be more money upfront, but if it means the computer lasts another couple of years in service it may be cheaper in the long run.
 
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