Monday, October 6, 2008

High-speed RAM can damage Nehalem i7 processors

According to the Inquirer, Intel is advising motherboard and RAM vendors about their new X58+Core i7 combo and to abide to a strict memory voltage limit of 1.65 volts limit. If the advice is not followed, they have warned that the CPU will get fried.
This came to light first when admins on the XFastest forums < http://www.xfastest.com/redirect.php?tid=14549&goto=newpost > posted several photos of the ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard with a big sticker over the DIMM slot warning that anything more than 1.65 V will destroy the CPU. ASUS has admitted that the story is true.
This doesn't seem to be really a problem since DDR3 JEDEC specs state that it should operate at 1.5 volts. But the problem may arise for overclockers with performance memory since many memory vendors offer faster RAM kits that operate at higher voltage levels. As an example, OCZ Reaper PC3-14400 operates at 1..9V, Mushkin's XP Series uses 1.9-1.95V while Corsair's Dominator high-end takes you all the way up to 2.1V.
While Mushkin will re-design their kit specifically to suit the X58/Core i7 combo and should be out sometime next month, the other memory vendors have not commented anything beyond stating that their kits are pending certification.
Intel is yet to explain why the memory voltage would damage the CPU, though we speculate that this could have something to do with the on-die (integrated) memory controller of the Nehalem. Though it is yet to hit the Indian market, people importing the Core i7 should make sure that they get a compatible RAM kit or they will have to underclock it

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