ASUS Intel 700, 600 Series and AMD AM5 Motherboards Are Ready to Support up to 256 GB of DDR5 Memory

[TheLostSwede]

ASUS today announced BIOS updates that enable support for up to 256 GB of memory on its Intel 700 and 600 series motherboards that use DDR5 modules. Such models with four DIMM slots can now support up to 256 GB of memory, while such models with two DIMM slots can now support up to 128 GB. These enhancements significantly improve multitasking potential, ensuring smooth and seamless computing. AMD AM5 motherboards from ASUS do not require a BIOS update to enable support for up to 256 GB of DDR5 memory modules.

The BIOS updates can be accessed on the ASUS support pages for the models listed below.





View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[zmeul]

I'm confused
These BIOS updates are available for like a month, did they just figured out that this BIOS build also supports 256GB of RAM?

 

[Teihan713]

I'm confused
These BIOS updates are available for like a month, did they just figured out that this BIOS build also supports 256GB of RAM?

May it's the brand new version?

 

[jesdals]

They proberly had to beta test the bios for a month before announcing it...

 

[ncrs]

I'm not sure that single 64GB non-ECC non-registered DDR5 DIMMs are actually available. Samsung isn't even listing 64GB UDIMMs.
All I could find at local retailers were RDIMMs, which are not physically compatible with mainstream UDIMMs.
Maybe motherboard vendors weren't able to test 64GB UDIMMs until now?

 

[Woomack]

I'm not sure that single 64GB non-ECC non-registered DDR5 DIMMs are actually available. Samsung isn't even listing 64GB UDIMMs.
All I could find at local retailers were RDIMMs, which are not physically compatible with mainstream UDIMMs.
Maybe motherboard vendors weren't able to test 64GB UDIMMs until now?

The only 64GB modules that I know are Kingston/Micron and were used for tests by all popular motherboard brands. You can check the press releases for MSI, Gigabyte, or ASRock. If they show modules, then they're Kingston/Micron ... but I haven't seen them in stores, and they are not even listed on the Kingston website. The same Crucial is a Micron brand, but they don't have any 64GB modules listed.

Samsung pretty much does not exist in the gaming/consumer DDR5 anymore. They had some ICs with some early product issues and disappeared. Most "gaming" RAM kits use the same 3-4 ICs for long months. Most are Hynix, and some are Micron.

 

[bug]

Nice. But a rather convoluted way of saying "we just added support for 64GB DIMMs".

 

[ncrs]

The only 64GB modules that I know are Kingston/Micron and were used for tests by all popular motherboard brands. You can check the press releases for MSI, Gigabyte, or ASRock. If they show modules, then they're Kingston/Micron ... but I haven't seen them in stores, and they are not even listed on the Kingston website. The same Crucial is a Micron brand, but they don't have any 64GB modules listed.

That explains it, most likely just prototypes for testing.

Samsung pretty much does not exist in the gaming/consumer DDR5 anymore. They had some ICs with some early product issues and disappeared. Most "gaming" RAM kits use the same 3-4 ICs for long months. Most are Hynix, and some are Micron.

I see, but they are still a major player in DDR5 in general. I haven't been keeping up with them outside of server/workstation space.

 

[Readlight]

To load OS from RAM?

 

[zmeul]

May it's the brand new version?

nope
I own both a Z690 and a Z790 Creator and they both had similar BIOS builds close to each other, and yes, these builds are not new
hell, there's even a brand new BETA around if you're looking for it

 

[Minus Infinity]

256GB might be able to cope with Adobe's legendary memory leaks.

 

[bug]

256GB might be able to cope with Adobe's legendary memory leaks.

You mean it might allow Adobe to develop better leaks.

 

[efikkan]

You mean it might allow Adobe to develop better leaks.

Depending on the size of the leak, that may only buy you so much extra time…

While I'm not an Adobe user myself, (some of) this may actually be a memory fragmentation issue rather than a leak, which can get quite severe if applications are running for weeks or even months. And if so, the memory footprint will not only grow, but the application will be gradually slowed down to a crawl.

-----

As to the usefulness of 64 GB modules on a mainstream platform, I think it will be very niche. Since the bandwidth is unchanged, this will be mostly useful for users who have a lot allocated, but not necessarily used at the same time, like e.g. someone using a "workstation" for different purposes like development, simulations, CAD/modelling or video/picture editing (without closing down applications between different tasks).

One exception though would be Linux users, where the OS will use any free memory to cache drive reads, so basically like a dynamic RAM drive.

But the price of this memory is not likely to be cheap…

 

[bug]

Depending on the size of the leak, that may only buy you so much extra time…

While I'm not an Adobe user myself, (some of) this may actually be a memory fragmentation issue rather than a leak, which can get quite severe if applications are running for weeks or even months. And if so, the memory footprint will not only grow, but the application will be gradually slowed down to a crawl.

-----

As to the usefulness of 64 GB modules on a mainstream platform, I think it will be very niche. Since the bandwidth is unchanged, this will be mostly useful for users who have a lot allocated, but not necessarily used at the same time, like e.g. someone using a "workstation" for different purposes like development, simulations, CAD/modelling or video/picture editing (without closing down applications between different tasks).

One exception though would be Linux users, where the OS will use any free memory to cache drive reads, so basically like a dynamic RAM drive.

But the price of this memory is not likely to be cheap…

Think of Gemini. Coming to the Pixel 8 Pro, but not to the plain Pixel 8 because of hardware limitations. The difference between those is basically RAM, 8 only has 8GB. As more an more apps will start employing AI, that RAM will not remain unused for long. That would be my wild guess.

 

[efikkan]

As more an more apps will start employing AI, that RAM will not remain unused for long. That would be my wild guess.

Just like many other computational loads, this will likely end up being bandwidth constrained.
That's why I said it was mostly useful for those switching between tasks, as those who needs it simultaneously probably should go for a 4 or 8 channel "HEDT" setup.