Intel's Alder Lake, Raptor Lake CPUs Get Support for 192GB of DDR5

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24GB and 48GB memory modules coming to Intel-based desktops near you.

MSI
(Image credit: MSI)

MSI on Friday announced that its Intel 600 and 700-series motherboards fully support 24GB and 48GB DDR5 memory modules. As a result, Intel's latest 12th Gen and 13th Generation Core processors can now support up to 192GB of DDR5 memory on MSI's platforms based on Intel's latest chipsets. Other makers of motherboards will likely follow MSI's statement shortly. 

Intel's Alder Lake and Raptor Lake CPUs for desktops pack up to 24 cores (8 performance cores, 16 efficiency cores) and can certainly take advantage of more than 128GB of random access memory currently supported by desktop platforms. MSI says it has rigorously tested its MEG, MPG, MAG, and PRO-series motherboards based on Z790, B760, Z690, B660, and H610 chipsets and now states that they are able to use new 24GB and 48GB memory modules. 

MSI

(Image credit: MSI)

These motherboards now support 96GB of DDR5 memory, as well as 192GB of memory (for those who want to max out their rig) configurations using four DIMMs. With 192GB of DDR5 SDRAM onboard, every core gets 8GB of memory, which is not bad at all. 

Note also that MSI claims that its motherboards support 24GB and 48GB memory modules using existing UEFI versions, so no firmware update is needed. Meanwhile, Intel's own Ark database still states that the company's Alder Lake and Raptor Lake processors (even the recently launched Core i9-13900KS CPU) only support up to 128GB of memory. Perhaps that's because Intel itself has not validated 24GB and 48GB modules across different configurations. 

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MSI
(Image credit: MSI)

All three leading makers of DRAM have already either formally announced, or at least demonstrated their 24Gb DDR5 memory chips that allow to build the so-called non-binary 24GB and 48GB memory modules. Micron was first to introduce its Crucial-branded 24GB and 48GB DDR5-5200 and DDR5-5600 SDRAM sticks supporting AMD's EXPO and Intel's XMP 3.0 profiles that are aimed at desktops. 

Micron's Crucial yet has to start sales of its 24GB and 48GB memory modules in the U.S. (they are currently absent at the official online store), but now that a major motherboard maker has announced support, it's likely we'll see availability of these DIMMs is a matter of weeks.

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • zecoeco
    Who on earth is going to max-out his mobo. with 192GB of expensive DRR5 memory?
    Gamers? Creators? Enthusiastics? Its basically useless and unfeasible.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    zecoeco said:
    Who on earth is going to max-out his mobo. with 192GB of expensive DRR5 memory?
    Gamers? Creators? Enthusiastics? Its basically useless and unfeasible.
    People who run lots of VMs, for one.

    Anyway, if they can reach 192 GB, that suggests they also should be able to handle 256 GB. So, this is very interesting news.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    That's a rather confusing table. Why all "0", unless to show that none of them support it?

    If their intent is to confirm support, couldn't they have used a check mark, "yes", or simply "Y"?
    Reply
  • PiranhaTech
    zecoeco said:
    Who on earth is going to max-out his mobo. with 192GB of expensive DRR5 memory?
    Gamers? Creators? Enthusiastics? Its basically useless and unfeasible.
    For most users, I agree.

    I can see the standard getting bumped up to 32GB for gaming, possibly 64GB, but that might be 1-2 console generations away. SSD speeds increasing might lower the need for more RAM.

    Windows does pre-load often-used programs into free RAM. If the price becomes reasonable, I would be tempted to try using disk caching like PrimoCache. The only issue is that PrimoCache doesn't seem to use a lot of RAM, so it's hard to tell if a huge amount will actually have any effect
    Reply
  • bloodroses
    zecoeco said:
    Who on earth is going to max-out his mobo. with 192GB of expensive DRR5 memory?
    Gamers? Creators? Enthusiastics? Its basically useless and unfeasible.
    I'm currently running 128GB DDR4 on my Alder Lake i9. For a list of uses: Unraid with multiple dockers and VMs, RAM scratch drives for processes that require tons of reading/writing, RAM cache to reduce wear and tear on SSDs, etc.

    It's much easier to max out your memory at the time of building if you think you may use it than it is later on and hoping the chips match. It's also much cheaper in the long run compared to upgrading to keep up with higher demands (outside DDR5). Plus with the sales for DDR4 at the time when I built it, it was no more expensive than going with a DDR5 motherboard and 32GB of RAM.
    Reply
  • bloodroses
    PiranhaTech said:
    For most users, I agree.

    I can see the standard getting bumped up to 32GB for gaming, possibly 64GB, but that might be 1-2 console generations away. SSD speeds increasing might lower the need for more RAM.

    Windows does pre-load often-used programs into free RAM. If the price becomes reasonable, I would be tempted to try using disk caching like PrimoCache. The only issue is that PrimoCache doesn't seem to use a lot of RAM, so it's hard to tell if a huge amount will actually have any effect

    I'm using PrimoCache on my system. I only reserved 16GB out of 128GB since any more seemed unnecessary. It's caching 4 NVM/SSDs to reduce wear and tear and one large platter drive to help performance.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    This is actually nice, for sure. If only Windows Home would support more than 128GB of RAM xD!

    Win Pro can/will allocate 512GB, so that should be fine for a while.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • osiris11235
    This is making the 128 GB of DDR 5 I just got feel puny (I do ML training)
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    zecoeco said:
    Who on earth is going to max-out his mobo. with 192GB of expensive DRR5 memory?
    Gamers? Creators? Enthusiastics? Its basically useless and unfeasible.

    It is not useless or unfeasible. I work for a diecast company, and I work with Zeiss's Calypso software, which recommends 64gb. I know some of the modeling and simulation software we run can make use of even more than that.
    Reply
  • PlaneInTheSky
    48 and 192 feel icky. It's not a power of 2.
    Reply