Mini-ITX and >32GB RAM?

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pipette

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I built my last PC 20 years ago and now looking into tackling another DIY project. I'm a bit out of the loop, though, so pardon my ignorance.

I was looking into mini-ITX boards (either for an i7 or Ryzen2 CPU) and in general they only seem to come with two RAM slots. Initially, I want to start out with 32GB, which is fine, as 2 x 16 GB modules are no problem to come by, But at some point, I'd like to upgrade to 64GB (2 x 32GB). But at this point that doesn't seem to be possible. Higher capacity modules are available for XEON server boards etc., but apparently don't work in any of the mini-ITX boards.

Is it just a matter of time until higher capacity modules will be available for the current mini-ITX boards or is there some fundamental reason that limits these boards to lower RAM amounts?

Thanks!
 
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jacobweaver800


There are 32gb dimms of server ECC memory on...
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jacobweaver800

jacobweaver800

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What are you doing that would use 32+gb's of memory? Also, its not that they are limiting the amount of memory in ITX systems, it's just to fit that form factor you can't really exceed 2 dimm slots without giving up useful features like PCI-E slots, or I/O ports, built in Wi-Fi ect. Intel recently released Optane Dimm's in the DDR4 form factor with up to 512gb's per dimm, thats currently only on the Xeon Platinum lineup, which hasn't released yet, but that gives us a look into the future, you can get your ITX system and just get 32gbs of memory and maybe Intel will release these high capacity dimms for consumers in the future, allowing you an upgrade.
 
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pipette

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Thanks for the input. It's for the most part going to be a photo editing rig. But I do a lot of panorama stitching, focus stacking, HDR etc. and that is all very memory intensive (my current laptop has 16GB and I'm running out of memory all...the..freaking...time). Some applications make good use of a decent GPU as well, so I basically need a gaming rig with a lot of RAM on top of it.
 
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jacobweaver800

jacobweaver800

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What is your budget for a system, I would push you to a Ryzen 5 2600x or Ryzen 7 2700x system for your workload, however Ryzen doesn't support more than dual channel memory, so you'll still be limited to 32gb's if you get 2 16gb dimms, however, 32 should be enough for what your doing, even if 16 fills up fast, 32 is still a lot for a high end system.

For video editing, i'd imagine your workload might be able to benefit from a Titan card or a Quadro, If you can get your hands on a lower end Quadro like a P1000 or P2000 or a Titan card like the Titan X Maxwell or Titan X Pascal (Titan Xp) I do believe you could go with a WS class board, WS standing for Work Station, and you should be able to run higher memory dimms, I've seen it done when LTT did 7 gamers 1 CPU.
 
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pipette

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A Ryzen 2700x is what I actually had initially in mind (in combination with a GTX 1060 - was trying to stay below $2k). But then I'm limited to 32GB.

Just wondering, on the server side there are RAM modules available for many years already that go up to 128GB - why don't these work or are not available for workstation-type systems?
 
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salerhino

salerhino

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type ECC vs non-ECC RAM in google.
 
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pipette

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Thanks - looked that up. Which still leaves me puzzled as to why there are no higher-capacity non-ECC RAM modules for consumer/enthusiast-type motherboards available. Is that a business decision (too little potential demand) or is there a technical reason for this (but why shouldn't it be possible to stick e.g. two non-ECC 32GB modules into a two slot ITX mobo)?

Edit: apparently, it's possible to stick ECC RAM in a non-ECC slot (and simply not take advantage of the ECC functionality), but that still leaves the issue of the processor/mobo needing to support this. I faintly remember reading somewhere the Ryzen CPUs can support up to 256GB of RAM. so I guess it comes down to the mobo.
 
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jacobweaver800

jacobweaver800

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There are 32gb dimms of server ECC memory on the DDR4 form factor, but the reason we don't have higher than 16gb capacities on mainstream/consumer is because someone that can actually use more than 128gb's of memory and multiple high end GPU's should be using server/Xeon class hardware and should be using ECC memory. There are mini-ITX boards that support ECC but I think it's only on X299.

If I remember correctly, your using this PC for photo editing and gaming? For that use I have to push you to an ATX or M-ATX board, they just make the most sense for your use case, they support high end many core CPU's can handle tons of memory, multiple GPU's with extra PCI-E cards, and many things that can easily benefit you.

Back to memory, the reason they can fit 32gb's on a single dimm is because the memory runs very slow, the highest end ECC memory dimms run at most 2400mhz, which isn't even supported by most Xeons, and only new Xeons like Xeon Platinum support that speed memory. Not to mention the stuff is expensive and hard to find these days.
 
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