Is this Skylake motherboard DDR3 or not?

[Aleksbgbg]

I am looking at a gigabyte B150M-D3H motherboard, and I have 16GB of DDR3 Corsair Vengeance Pro

 

I saw the same motherboard from a different seller with DDR4 (just before I was about to purchase it), so I immediately went for another one but I am sceptical due to this experience.

 

Here is the link:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014QPFXLU/?tag=pcp0f-21

 

Will I be able to use my 2x8GB DDR3 sticks on this motherboard?

[Kaita]

Nope

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5491#sp

 

EDIT: Woops! There's a DDR3 version http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5516#ov that's the one on amazon. So yes , you could use your DDR3 ram with that motherboard. However , I've read that it causes CPU problems something like that. Let me look it up.

 

EDIT: Here's the article http://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/anton-shilov/intel-prolonged-usage-of-ddr3-memory-at-default-voltages-can-damage-skylake/

[SwiftXShadow]

All skylake are DDR4

[The Official Czex]

Yes it does. There is an ASUS Z170 MOBO that also runs DDR3.

[The Official Czex]

All skylake are DDR4

 

False. 

[Redis]

All skylake are DDR4

nope, not all 

ASUS B150 PRO GAMING D3    

[devenson2017]

All skylake are DDR4

Not really, Intel put a DDR3 controller on the Skylake chips.

[The Official Czex]

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#xcx=0&s=30&L=3

[Aleksbgbg]

Yes it does. There is an ASUS Z170 MOBO that also runs DDR3.

 

Can I have an amazon link please? Thanks

 

Nope

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5491#sp

 

EDIT: Woops! There's a DDR3 version http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5516#ov that's the one on amazon. So yes , you could use your DDR3 ram with that motherboard. However , I've read that it causes the CPU problems something like that. Let me look it up.

 

EDIT: Here's the article http://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/anton-shilov/intel-prolonged-usage-of-ddr3-memory-at-default-voltages-can-damage-skylake/

 

Reading ATM, but what do you suggest I do about it? Lower voltage (just looking at the title) through BIOS?

 

 

Note: Price really shouldn't be over £70, I am going way overboard with this budget - everything apart from the Mobo and Fans (£30) are within budget as they are last minute add ons.

[The Official Czex]

Can I have an amazon link please? Thanks

 

 

Reading ATM, but what do you suggest I do about it? Lower voltage (just looking at the title) through BIOS?

 

 

Amazon link? Thanks

 

Try this: http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#xcx=0&s=30&L=3

[Aleksbgbg]

My vengeance pro runs at 1.65V...

 

Edit: sticking with this one, thanks for confirming that it is DDR3.

If voltages do ruin the cpu, well so be it - I might be able to get a replacement or it might be all a lie.

[Kaita]

My vengeance pro runs at 1.65V...

Just get a Haswell CPU and Motherboard , Skylake is not that different.

[MageTank]

My vengeance pro runs at 1.65V...

 

Edit: sticking with this one, thanks for confirming that it is DDR3.

If voltages do ruin the cpu, well so be it - I might be able to get a replacement or it might be all a lie.

VDIMM will not kill the CPU. It is the higher VCCIO/SA voltages that come with it. Keep VCCIO under 1.15, and keep VCCSA under 1.25 and you will be fine. VCCIO/SA are the only two voltages pertaining to memory that touch the CPU. People thinking that more VDIMM will kill a CPU is just wrong. That voltage is supplied to the memory by the board, and does not come in contact with the CPU at all.

 

Intel gave that warning because using your current XMP profiles on Z170 boards might set the VCCIO/SA too high, and could damage your CPU's IMC. Just take caution and manually set your voltages. Run some memtest86 and 512-4096 custom runs on Prime95 to make sure the memory is stable, and you are good to go. 

[Nena Trinity]

DDR3 + Skylake = fried IMC...

[MageTank]

DDR3 + Skylake = fried IMC...

I take it you did not read my post at all? This marks the second day in a row in which you've given bad memory advice. 

[Nena Trinity]

I take it you did not read my post at all? This marks the second day in a row in which you've given bad memory advice. 

True probably but its better to go for DDR3L or DDR4 if he is gonna get Skylake to avoid the troubles also it is truth not bad advice so good day to you!

[MageTank]

True probably but its better to go for DDR3L or DDR4 if he is gonna get Skylake to avoid the troubles also it is truth not bad advice so good day to you!

No, it's not the truth. Not even close. DDR3 will NOT kill a Skylake CPU. Too much VCCIO and VCCSA voltage will. I know people that are running over 1.8Vdimm on Skylake right now, stresstesting on LN2. http://forum.hwbot.org/showthread.php?t=148427

 

Why you think you can post a lie, then try to cover it up with a half baked response and get away with it, is beyond me. I've already stated the simple fact. Do not give people advice if you do not know what you are talking about. 

[typographie]

Why you think you can post a lie, then try to cover it up with a half baked response and get away with it, is beyond me. I've already stated the simple fact. Do not give people advice if you do not know what you are talking about. 

 

Why so much salt about this? It's not an unreasonable concern to have, whether it's actually true or not. Besides, if it did hurt the CPU, it's the sort of thing that may just shorten it's lifespan a few months or years down the line, not necessarily kill it instantly within the duration of a stress test.

 

When the CPU has an on-die memory controller, how does it avoid coming into contact with the DRAM voltage? That silicon is obviously getting power from somewhere. You may know something I don't, that's fine, but I'm just curious what the explanation is.

[MageTank]

Why so much salt about this? It's not an unreasonable concern to have, whether it's actually true or not. Besides, if it did hurt the CPU, it's the sort of thing that may just shorten it's lifespan a few months or years down the line, not necessarily kill it instantly within the duration of a stress test.

 

When the CPU has an on-die memory controller, how does it avoid coming into contact with the DRAM voltage? That silicon is obviously getting power from somewhere. You may know something I don't, that's fine, but I'm just curious what the explanation is.

VDIMM (The voltage that you typically see as 1.2V on DDR4, 1.35V on DDR3L, and 1.5V-1.65V on standard DDR3) gets its power from separate phases on the board. The CPU IMC gets its power from the board as well, but not from VDIMM. It gets it from VCCIO A + D,  and VCCSA (System Agent Voltage). They do not come in contact with each other. VDIMM has no effect on the CPU IMC. It will not increase the voltage being taken in by the IMC from the VCCIO/SA voltages.

 

HOWEVER! These 1.5-1.65 kits default XMP profiles can (and have been) loading dangerously high VCCIO/SA voltages on Skylake. This is why Intel has been warning people against them. When you start pushing higher VDIMM on your memory, you also need more VCCIO/SA voltages to accompany that to help keep it stable (Unless you have a really good IMC). DDR3 in and of itself is not harmful to Skylake. The default XMP profiles are. This is why i tell people to manually overclock their memory, and to manually set their voltages. Yes, it takes a ton of time to do it, but its always better as far as performance goes, and even when it comes to longevity. 

 

I'm not "salty", i am just tired of seeing the same thing day in and day out. This marks the second day in a row that a memory question was brought up, and @Nena360 gave an incorrect answer to it. The first coming from this thread: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/502204-bought-a-new-8-gig-ram-and-it-didnt-work-on-my-pc/ in which he claimed a stick was DOA, even though the board specifically states it does not support 8GB DIMMS. I am also slightly annoyed by his "DDR3 memory guide" in which he claimed Haswell DDR3 should be 1600mhz max. On the locked chipsets i would agree, but he never did clarify that either.

 

If you need more evidence regarding the VDIMM statements i am making, i can throw my memory at 1.5V and hit it with several stress tests. While i cannot prove whether or not it will cause degradation (It would take months/years to prove that) i can prove that it is 100% stable. There are several threads on OCN, dating back to Sandy/Ivy, in which people have been testing VDIMM degradation on chips (Remember, they were told not to do 1.65V on those back then) and the results are inconclusive. No degradation as of yet. The same type of thread exists for haswell too. I believe the standards are set to be a 100% safe precaution, or to give people leeway for exotic cooling solutions. Even now, DDR4 4266mhz Skylake memory is running at 1.4V (1.45V after offset voltage is factored in) and people have been running those fine for several months now. 

[App4that]

And if you're wrong down the road MageTank? You could run DDR3 for years and not have a problem, or in a few months we could find out that some Skylakes let the smoke out using DDR3. You can't say 100%, you're more than likely right, but that's no reason call someone out.

What we need are tests running a Skylake CPU on both DDR4 and comparable DDR3, to know if the advantages found with Skylake owe anything to the RAM used. If Skylake is about RAM speed, you have egg on your face MageTank. And no one wants that.

[MageTank]

And if you're wrong down the road MageTank? You could run DDR3 for years and not have a problem, or in a few months we could find out that some Skylakes let the smoke out using DDR3. You can't say 100%, you're more than likely right, but that's no reason call someone out.

What we need are tests running a Skylake CPU on both DDR4 and comparable DDR3, to know if the advantages found with Skylake owe anything to the RAM used. If Skylake is about RAM speed, you have egg on your face MageTank. And no one wants that.

You are right. I can't say 100% that i am right. I can say 100% that VCCIO (A and D) are the electrical paths to and out of the IMC. I can also say that IMC/PCIe subdomain is entirely VCCSA (System Agent). I can also say VDIMM has absolutely nothing to do with the IMC. All of this is 100% factual information that cannot be refuted. However, the one thing i cannot control is the boards themselves, and how they train the memory. Even if you get DDR3, and scale its voltage down to 1.35v, if you leave the clock rate high, the board can auto train the VCCIO/SA voltages too high. This is why DDR3L is the recommended specification. It comes with low clocks AND low voltage already, so the VCCIO/SA voltages come low as a result. 

 

DDR3 will not harm Skylake. You can turn any DDR3 kit into a DDR3L kit if you lower its clock, lower its voltages, and dial them all in manually. DO NOT LEAVE THEM ON AUTO. If you let the board train them, you are in for a world of hurt. 

 

Also, the last part of your statement.

"What we need are tests running a Skylake CPU on both DDR4 and comparable DDR3, to know if the advantages found with Skylake owe anything to the RAM used. If Skylake is about RAM speed, you have egg on your face MageTank. And no one wants that. ".

 

 

What exactly do you mean by that? I never once brought up ram speeds. This topic is not about ram speeds. It's about if a motherboard uses DDR3 or not. It diverged into people saying DDR3 was not safe. I merely corrected that false rumor with facts. There is no question that DDR4 is faster than DDR3. Average high-end affordable DDR3 is 2400mhz. 2400mhz in dual channel is 38.4GB/s peak. Average high-end affordable DDR4 is 3200mhz. 3200mhz in dual channel is 51.2GB/s peak. Exactly a 25% difference in peak theoretical bandwidth. Not a small number by any means. 

 

Point is, DDR3 will not fry a CPU. Too much VCCIO/SA voltages will.

[Nena Trinity]

No, it's not the truth. Not even close. DDR3 will NOT kill a Skylake CPU. Too much VCCIO and VCCSA voltage will. I know people that are running over 1.8Vdimm on Skylake right now, stresstesting on LN2. http://forum.hwbot.org/showthread.php?t=148427

 

Why you think you can post a lie, then try to cover it up with a half baked response and get away with it, is beyond me. I've already stated the simple fact. Do not give people advice if you do not know what you are talking about. 

Meh I trust Intel more than your source if you are so sure then try it yourself!

[MageTank]

Meh I trust Intel more than your source if you are so sure then try it yourself!

Currently running beyond their "safe specs" as we speak, for over a month.

[App4that]

You are right. I can't say 100% that i am right. I can say 100% that VCCIO (A and D) are the electrical paths to and out of the IMC. I can also say that IMC/PCIe subdomain is entirely VCCSA (System Agent). I can also say VDIMM has absolutely nothing to do with the IMC. All of this is 100% factual information that cannot be refuted. However, the one thing i cannot control is the boards themselves, and how they train the memory. Even if you get DDR3, and scale its voltage down to 1.35v, if you leave the clock rate high, the board can auto train the VCCIO/SA voltages too high. This is why DDR3L is the recommended specification. It comes with low clocks AND low voltage already, so the VCCIO/SA voltages come low as a result.

DDR3 will not harm Skylake. You can turn any DDR3 kit into a DDR3L kit if you lower its clock, lower its voltages, and dial them all in manually. DO NOT LEAVE THEM ON AUTO. If you let the board train them, you are in for a world of hurt.

Also, the last part of your statement.

What exactly do you mean by that? I never once brought up ram speeds. This topic is not about ram speeds. It's about if a motherboard uses DDR3 or not. It diverged into people saying DDR3 was not safe. I merely corrected that false rumor with facts. There is no question that DDR4 is faster than DDR3. Average high-end affordable DDR3 is 2400mhz. 2400mhz in dual channel is 38.4GB/s peak. Average high-end affordable DDR4 is 3200mhz. 3200mhz in dual channel is 51.2GB/s peak. Exactly a 25% difference in peak theoretical bandwidth. Not a small number by any means.

Point is, DDR3 will not fry a CPU. Too much VCCIO/SA voltages will.

The last bit was 50% funny haha, and 50% actual curiosity. We both know ram speed effects fps, and one of the reasons for the hype on Skylake is the fps improvement it offers. But no one that I have seen has tested a 4690k, 6600k with the same ram as the 4690k, and a 6600k using DDR4 at an average speed. My hypothesis is that the advantage is more to do with the ram used, than the processor. And if I'm right that would make using DDR3 with a Skylake CPU, well I have the TOS restricting my classification for such an activity.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I can't imagine buying Skylake to use with DDR3. DDR4 support is one of the biggest reasons to get Skylake, otherwise might as well go Haswell to save some money.