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Does the Intel® H61 Express Chipset support 16GB (2x8GB) memory kits?

Vitalij
Beginner
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Hello!

 

Does the Intel® H61 Express Chipset support 16GB (2x8GB) memory kits? 

 

The H61 chipset is used in the following system:

Motherboard: GA-H61M-D2H from GIGABYTE (with four DIMM slots)

Processor: Intel Core i3-2120

 

The following information is available on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_1155#Sandy_Bridge_family_of_chipsets:

The H61 chipset only supports one double-sided DIMM Memory module (RAM module) per memory-channel and therefore is limited to 16 GB instead of the 32 GB like the others support. On H61-based motherboards with four DIMM slots, only four single-sided DIMMs can be installed.

Does this information allow one dual-sided 8GB memory module per channel?

 

Technical support of GIGABYTE informed that the GA-H61M-D2H motherboard supports 4x4GB DDR3 1333/1066/800 MHz DIMMs configuration officially. Some other sources provide the same information. With four single-sided 4GB memory modules, data rate will drop to 1066 MT/s. Therefore, this option isn’t desirable. In order to avoid this disadvantage, I am considering one double-sided 8GB memory module per channel. Or does this motherboard have additional restrictions?

 

Best regards,

Vitalij

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
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This depends upon the Memory Reference Code support that the motherboard's BIOS provides. My understanding is that the BIOSs typically supported up to 4Gb memory technology - which means two double-sided 8GB DIMMs or four single-sided 4Gb DIMMs could be utilized.

Now, the bad/worrisome part: Many DDR3 DIMMs available today utilize capabilities that were not supported back in the H61 day. 8Gb (or higher) memory technology is not supported. As well, x16 memory organization is not supported (x8 is required). Look for designations like 1Rx8 (or 512Mx8) or 2Rx8 (or 512Mx8/512Mx8) and avoid designations like 1Rx16 and 2Rx16.

Bottom line, you need to look very carefully at the DIMMs you attempt to use.

Hope this helps,

...S

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
25,712 Views

This depends upon the Memory Reference Code support that the motherboard's BIOS provides. My understanding is that the BIOSs typically supported up to 4Gb memory technology - which means two double-sided 8GB DIMMs or four single-sided 4Gb DIMMs could be utilized.

Now, the bad/worrisome part: Many DDR3 DIMMs available today utilize capabilities that were not supported back in the H61 day. 8Gb (or higher) memory technology is not supported. As well, x16 memory organization is not supported (x8 is required). Look for designations like 1Rx8 (or 512Mx8) or 2Rx8 (or 512Mx8/512Mx8) and avoid designations like 1Rx16 and 2Rx16.

Bottom line, you need to look very carefully at the DIMMs you attempt to use.

Hope this helps,

...S

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Vitalij
Beginner
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Hello!

 

Thank you for the information.

 

I select memory modules based on the data in the attached file 2023-02-27-114116 - Table 2-1 - Supported UDIMM Module Configurations. This table is taken from the processor’s datasheet.

 

The configuration of the currently installed 4GB double-sided memory modules corresponds to row 4 of the attached table. These two memory modules are installed in different channels.

For some reason, this table doesn’t show support for 4GB single-sided memory modules. Did you mean 1Rx8 (or 512Mx8) for single-sided 4GB memory modules? 

 

For 8GB memory modules, the table also shows one possible configuration in row 5. Therefore, I select double-sided 8GB memory modules according to this configuration. For example, this memory kit 75TT13NU2R8-8GK2 - TIMETEC 16GB KIT (2 X 8GB) DDR3-1333 UDIMM seems to be compatible with the processor. Isn’t it? 

 

Other supported configurations apply to smaller DIMM Capacities. I don’t consider them.

 

I suppose that the motherboard and chipset support memory modules of the same configuration as the processor. Is it so? At least, I haven’t seen such tables for the motherboard and chipset.

If the memory modules are connected directly to the processor’s memory controller, how does the chipset affect the memory parameters? I don’t understand that.

 

Best regards,

Vitalij

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Vitalij
Beginner
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Hello!

 

I bought two SP156836 memory modules (8 GB/module) for the GA-H61M-D2H (rev. 1.0) motherboard. According to https://www.phs-memory.com/computer-memory-8gb-ddr3-gigabyte-ga-h61m-d2h-rev-10-ram-udimm-sp156836.html , the SP156836 memory module is 100% compatible with this motherboard.

 

Both SP156836 memory modules were installed into the motherboard a week ago.

The previously installed 8GB (2x4GB) memory modules were removed from the motherboard.

 

The BIOS detected 16GB of RAM, and the OS detected 15.5GB. This confirms that the GA-H61M-D2H (rev. 1.0) motherboard supports one dual-sided 8GB memory module per channel.

 

At the moment, I have no complaints about the operation of the installed SP156836 memory modules, but I have questions about their supply voltage and timings, which are automatically set in the BIOS. I don’t really understand what values are set.

Some photos of BIOS settings regarding RAM are attached.



Supply voltage

 

MB Intelligent Tweaker (M.I.T.)” states “DRAM Voltage 1.344 V”. Is this the measured supply voltage? 1.35V corresponds to DDR3L.

However, “Profile DDR Voltage 1.5V” is indicated in “Advanced Memory Settings”. 

And in “Advanced Voltage Settings” it says “DRAM Voltage 1.500V [Auto]”. 1.5V corresponds to DDR3.

Which of the two supply voltages 1.35V and 1.5V is actually set? As far as I know, the motherboard and Intel Core i3-2120 processor only support 1.5V. Therefore, I expected to see 1.5V. In addition, the SP156836 specification states “Voltage 1.5 volt”.

 

As I understand it, the BIOS got information about 1.35V from the SPD. The two received SP156836 memory modules use the H5TC4G83BFRPBA memory chips from Hynix, which most likely accept both 1.35V and 1.5V. Unlike 1.35V, 1.5V is supported by the motherboard, processor and memory modules / chips.

 

In my opinion, the “DRAM Voltage” is set to 1.35V.

 

The following information is available from some sources on the Internet:

  1. Sandy Bridge processors support DDR3L 1.35V.
  2. The motherboard wouldn’t automatically set the voltage to 1.35V if it didn't support it.

If so, then the “DRAM Voltage” automatically set to 1.35V in the BIOS settings is correct and no change is required.



Timings

 

The 9-9-9 timings of both channels shown in “M.I.T Current Status” correspond to DDR3-1333.

However, the 11-11-11 timings shown in “Channel A Timing Settings” and “Channel B Timing Settings” correspond to DDR3-1600.

There is also a mention of the 1600 MT/s speed in “Advanced Frequency Settings”:

“System Memory Multiplier (SPD) [Auto]

Memory Frequency (MHz) 1600 1333”

Which of the timings 9-9-9 and 11-11-11 are actually set? I expected to see 9-9-9, which would correspond to DDR3-1333. Specification of the SP156836 memory module also states “Memory data transfer rate 1333MHz @ CL9”. The motherboard expectedly limited the speed to 1333 MT/s.

 

As far as I understand, the BIOS got information about the 11-11-11 timings and the 1600 MT/s speed from the SPD. These values meet specification of the H5TC4G83BFRPBA memory chips.

 

In my opinion, the timings are set to 9-9-9.



Unlike the installed SP156836 memory modules, the BIOS settings showed one value of supply voltage (1.5V), speed (1333 MT/s) and timings (9-9-9) for the two previous 8GB (2x4GB) memory modules. This time, I'm confused.

 

Do the current BIOS settings comply with the requirements of the motherboard and processor? Or is it necessary to manually set 1.5V and 1333 MT/s for the received SP156836 memory modules?

 

PHS-memory doesn’t recommend to change the BIOS settings.

GIGABYTE suggests to use manual settings, in accordance with the specification of the SP156836 memory module.

 

Best regards,

Vitaly Stepin

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