Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Multi-channel memory architecture
open-in-new
<p>In the fields of <a href="/facts/Digital_electronics/3kJcKbkw">digital electronics</a> and <a href="/facts/Computer_hardware/8jSjsCNv">computer hardware</a>, multi-channel memory architecture is a technology that increases the data transfer rate between the <a href="/facts/DRAM/koI9FGo5">DRAM</a> memory and the <a href="/facts/Memory_controller/tHq2zlws">memory controller</a> 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 <a href="/facts/IBM_System%2f360_Model_91/Yo9gocm4">IBM System/360 Model 91</a> and in <a href="/facts/CDC_6600/QpnT1Ltl">CDC 6600</a>. </p><p>Modern high-end desktop and workstation processors such as the <a href="/facts/Advanced_Micro_Devices/CB1G7QTb">AMD</a> <a href="/facts/Ryzen_Threadripper/0hKNcAra">Ryzen Threadripper</a> series and the <a href="/facts/Intel/SMF0gJJX">Intel</a> <a href="/facts/List_of_Intel_Core_i9_processors/k1CmRVss">Core i9 Extreme Edition</a> lineup support quad-channel memory. Server processors from the AMD <a href="/facts/Epyc/5d30N0BK">Epyc</a> series and the Intel <a href="/facts/Xeon/j1M8Hp6D">Xeon</a> platforms give support to memory bandwidth starting from quad-channel module layout to up to 12-channel layout. In March 2010, AMD released <a href="/facts/Socket_G34/NvygjtjY">Socket G34</a> 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 <a href="/facts/LGA771/tDIc71UP">LGA771</a> platform and later in 2011 for its <a href="/facts/LGA2011/wMWkCtCv">LGA2011</a> platform. Microcomputer chipsets with even more channels were designed; for example, the chipset in the <a href="/facts/AlphaStation/LRCUKK8L">AlphaStation</a> 600 (1995) supports eight-channel memory, but the <a href="/facts/Backplane/J6Hwe7Wl">backplane</a> of the machine limited operation to four channels. </p>