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I have read on the internet that a 32-bit CPU can handle around 4gb RAM max,while a 64-bit CPU can reach maximum of 16gb of RAM. How come than that on the market I can find something like this:

Intel Xeon E-2176M Processor (12MB Cache, up to 4.40 GHz) 32GB(16+16) DDR4 2666MHz SODIMM

Are they trying to trick customers via selling more RAM than what it necessary or is there something I don t know about the relation between CPU and RAM?

Carnival
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    See [Memory limits in 16, 32 and 64 bit systems](https://superuser.com/questions/556008/memory-limits-in-16-32-and-64-bit-systems). An OS might impose artificial limits (Windows does that). Your listing doens't make sense. Either it's a CPU or RAM not both. – Seth Jan 08 '19 at 12:00
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    "while a 64-bit CPU can reach maximum of 16gb of RAM." - A 64-bit processor can handle a great deal more than 16 GB of memory. My system currently has 32 GB, and I plan on building a system that has 64 GB, and I have seen systems that have double exponential larger amounts than either of those values. – Ramhound Jan 08 '19 at 12:24
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    A 64 bit system can, in theory, address a huge amount more than 16GB of RAM. Generally the limitations are physical and based on motherboard and processor physical design. – Mokubai Jan 08 '19 at 12:46

2 Answers2

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Based on the specification of your processor you can have maximum of 64GB of RAM. Of course you should check specs of your motherboard for other limitations.

And you Instruction Set is 64bits (same specifications)

Romeo Ninov
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Your understanding is incorrect.

While 32 bit CPUs are generally limited to 4GB of RAM, some models can surpass that limitation if they support PAE.

64 bit processors can theoretically support up to 16.8 million terabytes of RAM (2^64). However, no CPUs actually have that capability yet.

In reality, the maximum supported amount of RAM in hardware is limited by the model of CPU and the motherboard's memory controller. The limit will be the lesser of the two devices.

Your usable RAM may be limited by your operating system. Some operating systems have limits, both real and artificial, that prevent it from using all of the RAM available to it.

Keltari
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