Overclocker Gets 1TB of RAM Running on X299 Motherboard Limited to 256GB

X299 Taichi CLX (Image credit: ASRock)

ASRock announced this week that renown overclocker Nick Shih has filled ASRock's X299 Taichi CLX workstation-grade motherboard with 1TB of memory when the motherboard only officially supports up to 256GB.

To achieve this feat, Shih paired an Intel Core i9-7900X with eight SK Hynix 128GB LRDIMM (load-reduced DIMM) modules. This is quite fascinating, considering we were told that the X299 chipset doesn't support EEC (error-correcting code) memory, much less LRDIMMs. It's unknown what kind of magic Shih had to use to get the aforementioned memory to work on the ASRock X299 Taichi CLX.

X299 Taichi CLX (Image credit: ASRock Japan/Twitter)

SK Hynix already has a couple of 256GB LRDIMMs in its portfolio, but they max out at 2,666 MHz. The ones that Shih used seem to be unreleased. According to the screenshots shared, the LRDIMMs carry the HMABAGL7MBR4N-WM part number and come clocked at 2,933 MHz with CL21-21-21-47 timings and a 1.20V operating voltage. 

What makes Shih's accomplishment even more spectacular is that fact he was able to push the LRDIMMs to 3,471.8 MHz with the memory timings configured to CL20-24-24-56. That Core i9-7900X must have one heck of an IMC (integrated memory controller) to support up 1TB of memory operating at those speeds.

Samsung revealed its 256GB LRDIMMs last year. It would certainly be mind-blowing to see 2TB of memory running on a consumer-grade motherboard. The tools are there ready for anyone to use. Now, we just need a daring overclocker to attempt it.

Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • nofanneeded
    yea , filled it up .. RIGHT. where is the benchmarks and long test? how about Stability ?
    Reply
  • IronAddictAZ
    OK so what's the secret ingredient? i'm getting ready to pull the trigger on an ASRock x299 taichi clx board and intel 10980xe CPU and would love to put 1TB of RAM ... dont mind spending a few bucks BUT want to make sure i can run my VMware on the platform. Any hints?
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    IronAddictAZ said:
    OK so what's the secret ingredient? i'm getting ready to pull the trigger on an ASRock x299 taichi clx board and intel 10980xe CPU and would love to put 1TB of RAM ... dont mind spending a few bucks BUT want to make sure i can run my VMware on the platform. Any hints?
    Where have you found a 10980xe for sale and why would buy into the X299 platform at this point in time? It's a 2.5 year old platform that is dead.
    Reply
  • IronAddictAZ
    hi there,

    i havent found it yet i've on the "notify when available" lists on several websites. Why choose this platform? more than enough juice for the next 5 years for me and i tend to be a late adopter ... mature technology, price decrease, fully vetted in the market, etc .. and if there are upgrades, in the same socket/chip/memory .. then its still cheaper ... being a leading edge adopter seems to lead more to ever great improvements as soon as your system is built lol ...
    Reply
  • JRRT
    IronAddictAZ said:
    hi there,

    i havent found it yet i've on the "notify when available" lists on several websites. Why choose this platform? more than enough juice for the next 5 years for me and i tend to be a late adopter ... mature technology, price decrease, fully vetted in the market, etc .. and if there are upgrades, in the same socket/chip/memory .. then its still cheaper ... being a leading edge adopter seems to lead more to ever great improvements as soon as your system is built lol ...
    Did you ever do this? Did it work? I can't really afford a server motherboard and processor at the moment, but I need a workaround to be able to run some very memory demanding simulations. Even if it takes a couple months to finish, it would at least be possible with this much memory if it works. But I am still waiting to get information from ASRock. There website is not as clear as I would like unfortunately.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    JRRT said:
    Did you ever do this? Did it work? I can't really afford a server motherboard and processor at the moment, but I need a workaround to be able to run some very memory demanding simulations. Even if it takes a couple months to finish, it would at least be possible with this much memory if it works. But I am still waiting to get information from ASRock. There website is not as clear as I would like unfortunately.
    This is an almost 4 year old thread, and the person you're replying to hasn't been seen since.
    Reply