Why do so many modern boards just have 2 memory slots?

[preslove]

So, I'm thinking of getting this for a cheap amd build because it comes with 8gb free ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

But, why does the thing just have 2 memory slots?

Anyway, besides that, is this a good board? This will be my first actual build

 

[Ayah]

because it's a cheap board. the fewer parts, the fewer traces, and the more money you save.

 

[dawp]

it's also a MATX board so it has limited space. quite a few MATX boards have only 2 slots.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Micro-ATX and ITX boards usually only have 2 slots. It's a cost/benefit calculation, since the majority of computer owners never upgrade their rigs, and they can probably make the board a buck or two cheaper.

Power users and enthusiasts tend to buy the ATX boards, or they'll buy the one premium mATX/mITX model for twice the price of the rest because they know they want that particular combination of features and size.

 

[alexruiz]

As others have mentioned, most mATX boards have only 2 RAM slots.

If you can accommodate a regular ATX board, get this one instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138366

It is a much better board in any respect, only $10 more and still the free RAM.

 

[mindless1]

It's the space, the cost, but also about target market. Say a board can take 8GB per slot so with two you have a 16GB system. Who builds for more memory that that, without a higher powered CPU than such a board can handle, and picks a low end board to do so?

If it's a good board depends on who you ask. Lots of people build on the cheap using Biostar but I find they have a lot of factory defects and buggy BIOS, the latter usually resulting in poor overclocking and more limited memory module support... and yet, it received a fair number of good reviews on 'egg.

Anyway, memory prices have been on the rise but you might be able to find some for around $50 on sale so the board's $30 of the cost. I'd spend about $20 more to get an Asus or Gigabyte but everyone has their own preferences.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Cost and space on motherboard. Pretty much every single motherboard > $100 has 4 slots (or more if it's something like socket 2011).

 

[2is]

Cheap boards have 2 slots, modern or obsolete.

 

[crashtech]

2 slots on a sub $100 mATX is the conventional wisdom, but if you look there are plenty of 4 slot B75 mATX boards. It's just that most in the market for a mATX don't care about 4 slots, memory is relatively cheap and dense, 4 slots are just not a dire necessity.

 

[nenforcer]

AMD and Intel mainstream consumer builds are also still dual channel so that is the "minimal" amount you need to get maximum performance despite the smaller capacity.

 

[piasabird]

It is just to conserve space on the motherboard so they can cram other things in that space like SATA slots, and USB headers. Besides do you really need 4 memory slots? Each slot when filled uses power.