AMD CPUs should support CUDIMM memory soon, but not this generation

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AMD CPUs should support CUDIMM memory soon, but not this generation

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
What is CUDIMM?
When will AMD get CUDIMM support?
Before AM6

AMD processors can’t make full use of CUDIMM memory just yet, but it may well do before the end of this socket. In a recent interview with DigitalTrends, AMD’s product management lead for gaming and workstations, Sourabh Dhir, told us that there was no reason that AM5 couldn’t support CUDIMM, but wouldn’t be draw on a timeline of when we might see it.

Considering we expect AM5 to be AMD’s flagship CPU socket for the next couple of generations at least, that probably means we don’t have long to wait for the added memory speed support.

What is CUDIMM?

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CUDIMM is the latest memory DIMM standard that adds an onboard clock tuner to the memory modules themselves. It’s an evolution of DDR5’s original advance in power management, incorporating that onto the sticks themselves. What CUDIMM does, is add a chip that boosts the clock signal from the CPU’s memory controller, delivering a clearer signal for the memory. That leads to greater stability, and ultimately, higher memory frequencies. 

It’s meant that companies like G-Skill have launched memory with rated speeds as high as 9,600 MT/s, and often they can be overclocked to over 10,000 MT/s on air, or even over 12,000 MT/s when more exotic cooling is involved.

The only problem for AMD is, its CPUs don’t currently support it. Or at least, the onboard clock tuner which allows for such advanced frequencies. Currently, if you plug a stick of CUDIMM into an AMD motherboard, even a high-end, latest generation X870E board, it’ll run in what’s known as “bypass mode,” and will only operate at the highest speed the motherboard supports — not the rated speed on the modules.

Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200 Arrow Lake processors, however, can fully support it, leaving AMD somewhat languishing on memory speed, even if it isn’t some game changing performance silver bullet.

When will AMD get CUDIMM support?

Not yet, but probably not far into the future, either. In our chat with Mr Dhir, he was clear that AM5 was more than capable of supporting CUDIMM’s features and subsequently, its frequencies.

“So as as our memory road map is developing, you’ll notice that different different innovations are leading to different form factors on the DIMMS. CUDIMM is a technology which allows our DDR5 speeds to go beyond 6000 speeds, and I don’t think we we need a new infrastructure to support these.”

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When pressed on whether this was something that could be enabled in a BIOS update, or if it would need a new chipset and processor generation (even if not a new socket), here merely confirmed:

“Within the same AM5 infrastructure,” he clarified. “It’s robust enough. It’s future proof enough, and it’s built for for supporting these [developments].”

His final send off on the topic suggested this might not be the last we hear of either CUDIMM support, or additional DDR5 capabilities and features beyond it.

“Anything you throw DDR5 at it, [AM5 is] built to support these capabilities.”

Before AM6

Elsewhere in our chat, Dhir suggested that the major motivation for AMD changing sockets was to improve memory support and capabilities. 

“When DDR5 came into market, we wanted to adopt that technology early,” he said. “We wanted to give the benefits of that, improved bandwidth, improved memory capabilities.” 

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Arrow Lake is the only platform that supports CUDIMM for now. Intel

He went on to suggest that DDR6 may well be the driving factor of AMD moving on to an AM6 or other future socket design in the future, though wouldn’t be drawn on specifics. This would very much suggest that we’re going to see CUDIMM support this side of moving to DDR6 and AM6, but with no clear roadmap as to when beyond that far future “before” date.

Offering another little nugget of hope in this conversation was AMD PR manager, Matthew Hurwitz, who spent time working at Gigabyte in the past. While he was clear to state that he wasn’t speaking for his old employer, he did want to emphasise the inter-generation improvements of AMD chipsets, and how even when using the same socket, memory improvements were common.

CUDIMM for AMD isn’t here just yet, but it feels that bit closer to me, after this chat.

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