Question on X99

[NosRokanaske]

I was looking around and i noticed that ASUS only supports 64GB of DDR4 even on their Rampage V edition motherboard. I've been told that the reason is that most people won't be loading 128GB of DDR4 which is why they opted for 64GB. To my mind that would be a valid reason if they weren't the only one that did it. Their $300+ boards don't support 128GB of RAM which is strange to me since which pretty much any other board on the market that has 8 slots supports 128GB of RAM. So my question would be, would it supporting 128GB of RAM be a firmware thing? Their top of the line boards all have 8 slots of RAM, so i was just curious if a simple firmware update that remove the 8GB/slot restriction and make it 16GB/slot.

[ViruZ_HUN]

Only server grade boards today support that much, Maybe this or next year when broadwell-e gets released...

[The Toaster]

Realistically when are you going to use more than 64 gigs on a personal computer? Unless you are doing heavy rendering it is hard to need more than 16.

If you really need 128 gigs, there are special boards that usually are for Xeons and support ECC Ram. For extreme server usage. But do not come with all the features gaming boards have. These cost in the 300$ range.

Hope this helps! (:

[Guest]

128 gigs for all the 360 minecraft no scops lel

[Bsantos]

It will be available when they reach the market for consumers not ecc

[Godlygamer23]

They may have opted for slots that support a maximum of 8GB.

[NosRokanaske]

Only server grade boards today support that much, Maybe this or next year when broadwell-e gets released...

 

Really? When i look at the MSI X99S SLI Plus which is a $220 motherboard, it supports 128GB of RAM. Almost all X99 boards that i looked at, have 8 slots, and aren't ASUS support 128GB of RAM. 

 

Realistically when are you going to use more than 64 gigs on a personal computer? Unless you are doing heavy rendering it is hard to need more than 16.

If you really need 128 gigs, there are special boards that usually are for Xeons and support ECC Ram. For extreme server usage. But do not come with all the features gaming boards have. These cost in the 300$ range.

Hope this helps! (:

 

You're definitely right, i probably won't load up to 128GB of RAM, BUT when i see a board liek the MSI X99S SLI for $220 supporting 128GB of RAM of does keep me wondering why ASUS opted out especially considering that the MSI is definitely targeting the X99 budget builder. If i budget board supports it, i would expect nearly everything in a higher class to support it.

 

To be fair, 16GB DIMMS are very expensive, but it doesnt really excuse the fact that they're the only ones not supporting it.

[NosRokanaske]

They may have opted for slots that support a maximum of 8GB.

 

So it isnt something that can be fixed with a firmware update? Does it have to do with the memory controller?

[iPhoenix]

The memory limit most likely has to do with validation. Memory controller is now in the CPU package so it really has nothing to do with the motherboard.  However, to reliably drive memory without crashing the motherboard must provide steady/clean voltage. 

 

The likelihood is that ASUS didn't want to hold themselves to 128GB because they couldn't find a kit of RAM that reliably posted.  Remember those RAM compatibility lists that nobody ever checks when buying?  That is designed for cases like this where people push the limits of the board. 

 

If you're really looking to run that much memory, invest in a server class board - these consumer ones may run it, they may even post, but you will likely run in to stability issues as you try to run non-ecc memory at those capacities. 

 

If you're wondering why you're paying "so much" for these boards and not getting 128GB compatability? Check all those fancy marketing terms - they don't pay for themselves - they all cost money to make and to print on the box. 

[NosRokanaske]

-snip-

 

Thank you for your answer. I was looking for answer along those lines, not the "you're realistically not going to run that, so why include it?"  which is phrase i dont want to see any top tier manufacturer, or any manufacturer really, to use. That is a very shitty way to view things IMO. 

 

I did not really think about validation honestly. I probably should have taken the time to check the release dates for each board. I am assuming that the ASUS Deluxe board is among the first X99 boards available in the market and there were very limited if not any 16GB DIMMS on the market. Most manufacturers now probably have the validation for the 16GB DIMMS now that there are "more" on the market.

 

I was considering getting one of the server grade board cause of all the validations they go through, but i know that every component basically increases in price.

 

Yeah and the fact that they're adding features to the board which i feel is a niche category. Dual Band WiFi is nice, but i think most people will have a wired connection. Bluetooth IMO is just a stupid add on, but who know.

[iPhoenix]

Thank you for your answer. I was looking for answer along those lines, not the "you're realistically not going to run that, so why include it?"  which is phrase i dont want to see any top tier manufacturer, or any manufacturer really, to use. That is a very shitty way to view things IMO. 

No problem.  Just glad I could help. 

 

Honestly even when we tested at NCIX, there were so many problems getting DDR4 to post - even with slower kits.  This is completely expected as it's a gen1 product - the memory companies have yet to perfect the manufacturing and hence the tolerances are going to be higher than DDR3 currently.  We had the same issues when transitioning DDR2 to DDR3.  

The new wave of boards that release this year should provide more even voltage for the new DDR4 standard and you'll also see Intel up the ante with their next gen compatibility.

 

When it comes to going extreme AND going for a first gen product - generally you're going to end up with headache. 

[runit3]

The maximum memory size supported by the i7-5xxx k/x's are 64GB, you won't get past that capacity unless you're in Xeon territory, and 2011-3 Xeon's are almost exclusively going to be used on server grade boards for server purposes, not consumer boards. ASUS does make higher capacity boards in 2011-3 (Z10PE-D8 WS), they're just intended for work stations and servers.

 

I guess the only incentive to run something like Xeon E5-2603 v3 on a consumer board is the cost, but really the price of DDR4 is going to be the limiting factor in any purchase, and server/ws boards really aren't that much more in comparison to consumer boards.