****************CPU Ambiguity***************

[Undefeated]

Hey, can anybody help clear up this misconception.

 

Intel's 'technical specification' for their cpu(s) looks like this for memory specs.

 

Memory Specifications (i9-7960X)

Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type)

128 GB

Memory Types

DDR4-2666

Max # of Memory Channels

4

ECC Memory Supported  ‡

No

 

Does 'Memory types DDR4-2666' mean if I use RAM over 2666MHz it will only run at a limit of 2666MHz while utilising this processor?

 

Also, 'Max num of memory channels' for this cpu it's 4 can anybody please explain exactly what that mean? 

 

 Thx guys x

[Origami Cactus]

The memory channels are how many dimms you can use, quad channel is max 8 dimms i belive.

And abot the memory speed, that is probably how fast it can support at stock, but you can probably overclock the ram to higher speeds.

[Skiiwee29]

It means that by default, any ram up to and over 2666 will run at 2666 out of the box until you set the XMP profile the RAM is rated for. So say you have a 3200mhz kit, when you first boot up, it will be at 2666 until you set the XMP profile to 3200mhz. 

 

@Origami Cactus Quad means 4, so Quad channel is 4 DIMMs, not 8. 8 is Octa. 

[Origami Cactus]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

It means that by default, any ram up to and over 2666 will run at 2666 out of the box until you set the XMP profile the RAM is rated for. So say you have a 3200mhz kit, when you first boot up, it will be at 2666 until you set the XMP profile to 3200mhz. 

 

@Origami Cactus Quad means 4, so Quad channel is 4 DIMMs, not 8. 8 is Octa. 

@Skiiwee29 My motherboard supports up to dual channel, but it has 4 slots...

[Skiiwee29]

1 minute ago, Origami Cactus said:

@Skiiwee29 My motherboard supports up to dual channel, but it has 4 slots...

Yes, Dual channel means it uses 2 for optimal performance. You can have up to 4 sticks that run in Dual channel mode. Has nothing to do with how many DIMM slots are on the motherboard. 

[Origami Cactus]

Just now, Skiiwee29 said:

Yes, Dual channel means it uses 2 for optimal performance. You can have up to 4 sticks that run in Dual channel mode. 

So that means if s/he gets a motherboard with 8 dimms s/he could run them in quad channel, so it could support 8 dimms.

[Lurick]

1 minute ago, Origami Cactus said:

So that means if s/he gets a motherboard with 8 dimms s/he could run them in quad channel, so it could support 8 dimms.

You can have 4 groups of 2 running in dual channel.

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Origami Cactus said:

So that means if s/he gets a motherboard with 8 dimms s/he could run them in quad channel, so it could support 8 dimms.

Correct. The amount of DIMM slots on the motherboard does not dictate the channels. Thats all on the IMC thats on the CPU Die. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Channels are basically how many dedicated links you have back to the CPU.  Think of it somewhat like RAID for RAM.

If you have one channel you can still have four DIMMs but they will only run as fast as one as they share the link back to the CPU.  But if you have quad channel they will run at the combined speed of all four.

[Origami Cactus]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Correct. The amount of DIMM slots on the motherboard does not dictate the channels. Thats all on the IMC thats on the CPU Die. 

So back to my original statement:

Quote

quad channel is max 8 dimms i belive.

 

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Origami Cactus said:

So back to my original statement:

 

no... QUAD channel just means its optimal setup is 4 sticks. You could have 20 DIMM slots on a board and it still only be QUAD channel as its dictated by the CPU, not the amount of DIMM slots on the board. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

The limit on DIMM slots is more about having the space for them on the motherboard I believe.

 

Also the more DIMMs you have per channel it can cause a slight performance drop, so generally they don't bother with more than two per channel.

[Origami Cactus]

2 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

no... QUAD channel just means its optimal setup is 4 sticks. You could have 20 DIMM slots on a board and it still only be QUAD channel as its dictated by the CPU, not the amount of DIMM slots on the board. 

oh ok.

[Undefeated]

So if my mobo has eight dimms and I fill them all up with RAM I would have two quad channels? or 4 groups of dual channel? 

 

Or do I have to look at my board specs and see what it supports?

• DDR4 4133MHz (O.C.) 
  8 x DIMM, dual-channel 
  Support XMP
• My board says this

[Lurick]

3 minutes ago, Undefeated said:

So if my mobo has eight dimms and I fill them all up with RAM I would have two quad channels? or 4 groups of dual channel? 

 

Or do I have to look at my board specs and see what it supports?

4 groups of dual channel and up to 8x 16GB sticks (for 128GB total)

 

It will support, based on your other post, up to 4133MHz on the memory once it's overclocked either via enabling the XMP profile or manually adjusting the RAM speed, timings, etc. although anything past 3200 or so generally doesn't net most people any performance benefits.