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Concept
Multi-channel memory architecture
Summary
In the fields of digital electronics and computer hardware, multi-channel memory architecture is a technology that increases the data transfer rate between the DRAM memory and the memory controller by adding more channels of communication between them. Theoretically, this multiplies the data rate by exactly the number of channels present. Dual-channel memory employs two channels. The technique goes back as far as the 1960s having been used in IBM System/360 Model 91 and in CDC 6600.
Modern high-end desktop and workstation processors such as the AMD Ryzen Threadripper series and the Intel Core i9 Extreme Edition lineup support quad-channel memory. Server processors from the AMD Epyc series and the Intel Xeon platforms give support to memory bandwidth starting from quad-channel module layout to up to octa-channel layout. In March 2010, AMD released Socket G34 and Magny-Cours Opteron 6100 series processors with support for quad-channel memory. In 2006, Intel released chipsets that support quad-channel memory for its LGA771 platform and later in 2011 for its LGA2011 platform. Microcomputer chipsets with even more channels were designed; for example, the chipset in the AlphaStation 600 (1995) supports eight-channel memory, but the backplane of the machine limited operation to four channels.
Dual-channel-enabled memory controllers in a PC system architecture use two 64-bit data channels. Dual-channel should not be confused with double data rate (DDR), in which data exchange happens twice per DRAM clock. The two technologies are independent of each other, and many motherboards use both by using DDR memory in a dual-channel configuration.
Dual-channel architecture requires a dual-channel-capable motherboard and two or more DDR memory modules. The memory modules are installed into matching banks, each of which belongs to a different channel. The motherboard's manual will provide an explanation of how to install memory for that particular unit. A matched pair of memory modules may usually be placed in the first bank of each channel, and a different-capacity pair of modules in the second bank.
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