Just an idea that came to my mind while shopping for workstation upgrades...
The basic idea
Leading the motherboard to believe that the memory is rated for higher frequencies than it actually is. E.g. using DDR3-1333 but tricking the motherboard to believe it is DDR3-1600.
Years ago I fiddled with Thaiphoon Burner to change some timings on notebook memory , with mixed success. This is where my "knowledge" stops any you come in.
I have no idea if this is the right way to go or if what I have in mind is even possible. Additional challenge: The tweak should work with reg ECC memory, DDR3 and/or DDR4.
Why/motivation
"Just buy a motherboard with a Z-chipset, then you can overclock your memory".
Not with the usual dual-socket server boards. My Fujitsu R920 workstation will be upgraded with Xeon E5-2670v2 CPUs in a few days. They officially support up to DDR3-1866.
It currently has 16x16GB DDR3-1600 reg ECC. The bios of these boards only allows you to set the memory frequency according to the maximum supported frequency of the "weakest link", be it CPU or memory. Using DDR3-1600, DDR3-1600 is the maximum available option in the bios. In order to get the option for DDR3-1866, I would have to use DDR3-1866...you get the picture.
Now just buying 256GB of DDR3-1866 is not an option for me, for obvious reasons
If I could manage to trick the motherboard into thinking I put in DDR3-1866 I could try to overclock the memory in the bios. That's the goal.
Another example to emphasize the practical relevance for me: One of my drawers holds 16x16GB DDR4-2133 reg ECC that I managed to get very cheap.
These could be used for my next workstation build which will probably have two AMD Epyc CPUs. From my X99-Build I know for a fact that these memory modules run just fine as DDR4-2666.
Buying the same amount of DDR4-2666 would set me back almost $3000. Same thing here: Leading the motherboard to believe my DDR4-2133 is actually DDR4-2666 would mean free extra performance.
Just in case this is relevant: both memory types -DDR3 and DDR4- are from Samsung.
Disclaimer
I am aware that this counts as overclocking and thus success is not guaranteed. I also know that I might brick some of my hardware in the process. Of course I would be using cheaper parts for testing. I am further aware that you should never ever overclock server hardware, what an atrocity. Last not least, no need to inform me that faster memory won't help anything. If you want to inform me about any of these facts instead of contributing something useful, just don't
The basic idea
Leading the motherboard to believe that the memory is rated for higher frequencies than it actually is. E.g. using DDR3-1333 but tricking the motherboard to believe it is DDR3-1600.
Years ago I fiddled with Thaiphoon Burner to change some timings on notebook memory , with mixed success. This is where my "knowledge" stops any you come in.
I have no idea if this is the right way to go or if what I have in mind is even possible. Additional challenge: The tweak should work with reg ECC memory, DDR3 and/or DDR4.
Why/motivation
"Just buy a motherboard with a Z-chipset, then you can overclock your memory".
Not with the usual dual-socket server boards. My Fujitsu R920 workstation will be upgraded with Xeon E5-2670v2 CPUs in a few days. They officially support up to DDR3-1866.
It currently has 16x16GB DDR3-1600 reg ECC. The bios of these boards only allows you to set the memory frequency according to the maximum supported frequency of the "weakest link", be it CPU or memory. Using DDR3-1600, DDR3-1600 is the maximum available option in the bios. In order to get the option for DDR3-1866, I would have to use DDR3-1866...you get the picture.
Now just buying 256GB of DDR3-1866 is not an option for me, for obvious reasons
If I could manage to trick the motherboard into thinking I put in DDR3-1866 I could try to overclock the memory in the bios. That's the goal.
Another example to emphasize the practical relevance for me: One of my drawers holds 16x16GB DDR4-2133 reg ECC that I managed to get very cheap.
These could be used for my next workstation build which will probably have two AMD Epyc CPUs. From my X99-Build I know for a fact that these memory modules run just fine as DDR4-2666.
Buying the same amount of DDR4-2666 would set me back almost $3000. Same thing here: Leading the motherboard to believe my DDR4-2133 is actually DDR4-2666 would mean free extra performance.
Just in case this is relevant: both memory types -DDR3 and DDR4- are from Samsung.
Disclaimer
I am aware that this counts as overclocking and thus success is not guaranteed. I also know that I might brick some of my hardware in the process. Of course I would be using cheaper parts for testing. I am further aware that you should never ever overclock server hardware, what an atrocity. Last not least, no need to inform me that faster memory won't help anything. If you want to inform me about any of these facts instead of contributing something useful, just don't