Friday, 25 April 2008

Intel DX48BT2 - 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Limit Caveat

Intel's new Bonetrail board, the DX48BT2 supports the Intel Quad Core Extreme QX9770 3.2GHz processor with a 1600MHz (MT) Front Side Bus.

If one wants to build a system on one and utilize 1600MHz memory, there is a 4GB (2x 2GB) installed memory limit.

1333MHz memory can be installed in an 8GB (4x 2GB) configuration.

Keep this in mind if quoting on a new Extreme based system.

From Intel's support site:
System Memory Features
The board has four DIMM sockets and support the following memory features:


  • Dual or single channel memory configurations
  • Four 240-pin Double Data Rate 3 (DDR3) SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) connectors with gold-plated contacts.
  • 1600/1333/1066/800 MHz DDR3 SDRAM interface
  • Unbuffered, non-registered single or double-sided DIMMs
  • Non-ECC DDR3 memory
  • Serial Presence Detect (SPD) memory only
  • Up to 4.0 GB utilizing 512 Mb or 1 Gb technology
  • Up to 8.0 GB utilizing 1 Gb technology
Notes:

To be fully compliant with all applicable Intel® SDRAM memory specifications, the board should be populated with DIMMs that support the Serial Presence Detect (SPD) data structure. If your memory modules do not support SPD, you will see a notification to this effect on the screen at power up. The BIOS will attempt to configure the memory controller for normal operation.

For 1600 MHz memory, only two DIMMs are supported for a maximum of 4 GB utilizing 1 Gb memory technology. DIMMs should be configured as a matched pair equal in speed and size in DIMM 0 and DIMM 1 of channel B.
Emphasis on the last paragraph is ours.

In the Tested Memory list further down the page, no 1600MHz memory shows up yet.

Kingston's site does not list the DX48BT2 board with Kingston's available memory products either.

This may be one case where a newer revision of the board will support 8GB DDR3 running at the 1600MHz front side bus speed.

Some product related links: Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
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1 comment:

  1. Tair05 November, 2008 03:07

    This sentence "DIMMs should be configured as a matched pair equal in speed and size in DIMM 0 and DIMM 1 of channel B" is particularly intriguing. It prevents memory from working in dual-channel mode. I tried 1600Mhz memory, but BIOS does not recognize it as such and insists on 1333

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