Does My Motherboard Support Quad Channel Memory?

To get the best out of your RAM sticks, they should operate in multi-channel mode. The higher the data channels, the better the performance of the RAM sticks.

Most motherboards offer dual-channel technology. Therefore, the answer to your question, “does my motherboard support quad-channel memory?” is generally a no. An average commercial PC, or even a gaming rig, does not support quad-channel memory.

Quad-channel memory configuration is found only in top-of-the-line workstation-grade motherboards.

In the following text, I will talk in detail about what multi-memory is, how it benefits, and how to check if your motherboard supports quad-channel memory.

What is Multi-Channel Memory?

Multi-channel memory is a technology that increases the data transfer rate between the RAM sticks and the CPU.

Generally, each RAM stick is connected via a 64-bit bus. The more channels the motherboard supports, the higher the sets of buses a RAM connects to.

So a dual channel memory connects to two sets of 64-bit buses. A quad-channel memory connects to four groups of 64-bit buses, and so on.

Running your RAM in a multi-channel configuration can drastically boost its performance.

GamersNexus.net has a comprehensive study on this whereby they noted a 30% improvement when running RAM in dual-channel mode compared to a single channel.

Of course, the actual difference in performance is determined by what program you run.

In some situations, you will notice a considerable difference in performance; in others, the commission will not be much noticeable.

It is NOT the RAM that Dictates Multi-Channel Support

Often people believe that multi-channel, i.e., dual or quad-channel support, is a function of the RAM stick.

That is not true whether your PC will support multi-channel memory technology and what kind is determined by the CPU and the motherboard.

So Does My Motherboard Support Quad-Channel Memory?

Most commercial motherboards do NOT support Quad Channel memory technology.

Hence, average motherboards intended for AMD Ryzen, AMD Athlon, Intel Celeron, Intel Pentium, and Intel Core series do NOT support quad-channel memory.

In other words, quad-channel memory is supported ONLY by workstation-grade motherboards. These include motherboards featuring:

• AMD TRX40 Chipset
• Intel X299 Chipsets

As well as older gen workstation grade chipsets.

Two straightforward ways exist to identify whether your motherboard supports quad-channel memory.

1. Check the Technical Specsheet on Manufacturer’s Website
2. Check the Number of RAM Slots

1. Check the Technical Specsheet on Manufacturer’s Website

One of the easiest and the most definitive ways to check whether your motherboard has quad-channel memory support is to head over to its manufacturer’s website.

Take, for instance, the specifications of the following motherboard, ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme:

You can see that the memory section of the spec sheet indicates that this motherboard features quad-channel memory.

2. Check the Number of RAM Slots

Another straightforward way to identify whether your motherboard has quad-channel memory support is to check how many RAM slots it has.

Motherboards with quad-channel memory support almost always have eight or more RAM slots.

I repeat:

In majority of the cases, motherboard with quad channel memory support have 8 or more RAM slots.

Take, for instance, ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha again. You can see that this motherboard has eight memory slots.

Hence, without even looking at the spec sheet, assuming this would support quad-channel memory would be safe.

The motherboard above has 8 RAM slots, four on each side of the CPU socket. This indicates that it would support quad-channel memory.

How to Enable Quad-Channel Memory?

You do not manually enable multi-channel memory, including quad-channel memory.

To enable quad-channel memory, you need,

• The correct motherboard – As explained earlier, these generally have 8 RAM slots.
• The right CPU – workstation CPU compatible with your motherboard.
• 4 RAM sticks – at least and ideally of the same capacity, speed, and brand. 

Both the workstation-grade motherboards and the CPUs that go with them are super-expensive.

Once you have the correct motherboard and the right CPU, you must make sure that you plug your RAM sticks in the correct slots to enable a quad-channel.

In other words, if you have 4 RAM sticks, you can’t just plug them in random slots and expect them to work in the quad-channel.

Instead, you must consult the motherboard’s manual to figure out where to plug in the RAM sticks.

It would be best to look out for the RAM slots’ labels. For instance, the following is the layout diagram for ASUS X299X Designare 10G motherboard.

The RAM slots have the following labels from Left to Right:

• DDR4 1_1B
• DDR4 3_2B
• DDR4 2_1A
• DDR4 4_2A
• DDR4 4_2C
• DDR4 2_1C
• DDR4 3_2D
• DDR4 1_1D

The manual then tells you how to install the RAM sticks depending on your number of sticks.

So if you have 4 RAM sticks, you can enable quad-channel by installing your RAM sticks in:

• DDR4 1_1B
• DDR4 2_1A
• DDR4 2_1C
• DDR4 1_1D

Essentially, you are plugging one stick in each of the motherboard’s four channels, i.e., A, B, C, D. You are installing the RAM sticks in the FIRST socket of each track, i.e., 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. 

It is highly recommended that the installed RAM sticks have the same capacity. In addition, the RAMs sticks’ speed should also ideally match.

And finally, while of lesser importance, the brand of the RAM sticks should also be the same.

It should be noted that quad-channel memory will only work if you have 4 or 8 memory sticks.

Once the RAM sticks are in the correct slots, you do not need to do anything else. The BIOS will take care of the rest.

You can check what channel your memory runs at with a simple utility called CPU-Z.

Read in Detail: How to Check if RAM is Dual Channel

Final Words

So if you have a motherboard featuring commercial chipsets, including the top-of-the-line AMD X series or Intel Z series chipsets, then unfortunately, the answer to the question “does my motherboard support quad-channel memory?” is no.

To find quad-channel memory support, you need to have a workstation grades motherboard, such as those featuring Intel X299 or the AMD TRX40 chipsets.

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