SIX OR EIGHT CHANNELS?

DDR5 might not be on the cards until 2020, so is there anything we could see in the meantime to bolster memory performance? The most obvious solution would be an increase in the number of memory channels accessible by highend desktop users, as that’s typically where memory matters most. Mainstream platforms can get away with dualchannel and DDR4 for some time, but for the high-end, any increase in memory bandwidth bolsters performance in ray tracing, video rendering, CAD CAM, you name it.

AMD is likely to be unwilling to introduce more channels on its high-end motherboards just yet, because apart from including support in its latest Threadripper processor designs, it would also need to redesign its LGA socket on motherboards, so the newer chips would cease to be backward compatible with current X399 mobos.

That said, there is a small chance that AMD could pull the trigger on that sooner than we think, depending on what Team Blue does. We’ve known since August that Intel intends to launch a 28-core unlocked Xeon on its high-end consumer platforms soon. This 14nm 28-core, 56-threaded beast comes on a new chipset (X599), with a new socket (LGA 3647). It requires a boatload of power, and one hell of a VRM solution to compensate, but more importantly (because of its Xeon heritage), it includes a six-channel memory solution. There’s proof of this already in Asus’s ROG Dominus, as it packs 12 DDR4 DIMM slots, alongside two custom M.2 DDR3-style DIMMs. On top of that, the board requires four eight-pin EPS power connectors, dual sixpin 12V connectors, and dual 24-pin ATX mobo power. And did we mention it has an actively cooled 32-phase VRM design as well? Crazy.

That six-channel memory support is the first of its kind, and if the board and chip sell well before AMD’s Threadripper 3 series arrives, the Threadripper 4 refresh may bring with it the eight-channel memory support found on its EPYC and EPYC 2 server-grade brothers.

What does it mean for end users? Well, if we take a dualchannel memory kit at 3,200MT/s, the total bandwidth is 51.2GB/s, quad-channel doubles that to 102.4GB/s, six-channel gives 153.6GB/s, and AMD’s eight-channel memory would give 204.8GB/s, ideal for transferring large data sets or rawfootage.