A “hybrid” motherboard that could help the transition between the two generations of DDR where it will be marketed.
In context: choosing between buying a DDR4 or DDR5 capable motherboard is a decision Alder Lake processor buyers have to face, but a Chinese manufacturer has released a mobo that supports both types of memory. . There are, however, a few caveats.
The motherboard news comes from prolific leaker momomo_us (via Tom’s Hardware). The H610M card is manufactured by Onda and supports DDR4-3200 and DDR5-4800 memory modules up to a maximum capacity of 32 GB.
Before Alder Lake owners start scouring the internet for this card, there’s one important factor to consider: it’s limited to a single DIMM for each memory type. Using single-channel memory introduces a noticeable performance hit, so you’ll need to assess whether the impact is worth having support for both types of memory.
Elsewhere, the microATX board has an 8-phase power subsystem, meaning support is limited to Core i7 Alder Lake models – not that the Core i7-12700K isn’t a beast – and Tom’s notes that it also has an additional 8-pin EPS power connector.
Elsewhere, there’s a single PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and a single PCIe x1 slot, three SATA III ports, an M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 slot for SSDs, and an M.2 slot reserved for WiFi adapters. You also get a PS/2 combo port, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, three 3.5mm audio jacks, and a USB 2.0 and USB header 3.0. If you’re not using a dedicated graphics card, there’s a VGA port and an HDMI port for using Alder Lake’s integrated graphics.
Exactly how the card works is unclear, as is its price, although it presumably only supports one type of memory at a time.
We heard rumors last week that Intel is pushing motherboard manufacturers to drop DDR4 support in 700-series chipset boards released alongside 13th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors more late this year; the company wants them to only support DDR5.
In our in-depth benchmarking of DDR4 and DDR5 for gaming performance, we found that the latter offered little to no gain on most titles. We came to a similar conclusion when reviewing the best RAM for 12 Gen Core processors, noting that there’s no point in investing in DDR5 right now unless you want the best of the best.
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