Mailinglist Archive: opensuse-amd64 (380 mails)

[Chuck Robertson <Charles.Robertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I was quite surprised after inserting four 1 GB DIMMS into an ASUS SK8N 
to watch the BIOS count
up to 3.272 GB and stop.  Then I read the manual, (rather than spec 
sheet that I used to select the motherboard).
The manual says:

"4. When all four sockets are populated with 1 GB DIMMS (total 4 GB),
  the system may detect only 3+ GB (a little less than 4 GB) due to
  the southbridge resource allocation."


So... this configuration leaves about 700 MB of RAM unused!  Shame on me 
for not reading the manual.

The ASUS SK8V  (VIA K8T800 chip set) has the exact same comment in the 
memory install section of
its manual.

Does anyone know:  Is the mapping of the Southbridge a design choice 
made by ASUS, or a limitation of these
chipsets?  Can anyone recommend a motherboard (based on first hand 
experience) that will allow an
Opteron 246 to address all 4GB in 4 x 1 GB DIMMs?

Thanks!

Chuck