Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

New motherboard supports DDR5 and DDR4 — but there’s a flaw

By

Onda, a Chinese PC hardware manufacturer, has announced the release of the H610M+ motherboard. The board, built for Intel Alder Lake-S and the LGA1700 socket, offers support for both DDR5 and DDR4 memory.

Flexibility in terms of RAM type is great, but the motherboard comes with one downside — it most likely won’t grant access to dual-channel RAM.

The Onda H610M+ motherboard next to its packaging.
Image source: Onda Image used with permission by copyright holder

Onda’s new H610M+ micro-ATX motherboard comes with one DDR4 slot for DDR4-3200 memory and one DDR5 slot for DDR5-4800 memory modules. In total, the board supports up to 32GB RAM, but it’s more than likely that users will be limited to either DDR4 or DDR5 and won’t be given the option to mix the two.

Recommended Videos

The H610 chipset the motherboard houses only supports one dual in-line memory module (DIMM) channel, and that’s exactly why the motherboard only has a single DDR4 slot and a DDR5 slot with no option to expand beyond a single RAM stick.

Related

This is definitely a downside, and a price paid for the flexibility of being able to switch between DDR5 and DDR4. Dual-channel memory is usually the way to go, and using a single DIMM is likely to result in a performance drop — up to 15% with DDR5, according to Tom’s Hardware.

The motherboard has an 8-phase power delivery subsystem and won’t be able to run the best processors that Intel has to offer. Although users won’t be able to utilize the H610M+ for the Intel Core i9-12900K, Onda will work just fine with Alder Lake models up to and including the Core i7.

ONDA H610M+ (VER1.0)https://t.co/hzwxlQjaMK
12th Gen CPU LGA1700 H610
1x DDR4 / 1x DDR5 DIMM Slots pic.twitter.com/3DrYqTpLeq

— 188号 (@momomo_us) March 6, 2022

In terms of ports and connectivity, the motherboard has a PS/2 port, four USB ports (two 3.0 and two 2.0), Ethernet port, HDMI port, VGA port, and three 3.5mm audio jacks. It also comes with two M.2 slots and three SATA 3.0 interfaces. It was first discovered by momomo_us on Twitter after being posted by Onda on its official website.

Intel Alder Lake was the first platform to introduce DDR5 memory, along with PCIe 5.0 and a new motherboard socket. Board manufacturers rose to meet the new requirements by releasing both DDR5 and DDR4 motherboards, letting users choose whether they’ll utilize the new technology or not. However, motherboards that offer access to both DDR5 and DDR4 are still a rarity, so Onda is hitting a largely untapped market with its new release.

The pricing of the motherboard is yet to be released, and we’re not sure if, or when, it will make its way to the U.S. market. However, it seems like a decent option for cheaper builds that aren’t pushing the performance to the limit.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Computing Writer
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
Despite Alder Lake launch, Intel isn’t ditching DDR4 yet
Pins on Core i9-12900K.

Although Intel has debuted DDR5 on desktops with the launch of Alder Lake, the company won't be ditching DDR4 any time soon. A new rumor suggests that Intel will continue supporting DDR4 on its 13th-gen Raptor Lake platform, which is currently expected to launch in the second half of 2022.

The news comes from esteemed leaker Moore's Law is Dead, who has a lengthy track record of accurate AMD, Nvidia, and Intel leaks. He says that the platform will support DDR4 and DDR5, just like Alder Lake does. That's great for builders who are upgrading now but can't stomach the price of a DDR5 kit.

Read more
Samsung’s massive DDR5 512GB RAM modules are almost twice as powerful as DDR4
A black box with "Samsung DDR5" written inside, accompanied by two RAM modules, over an image of Earth.

Samsung is among the brands that will release DDR5 RAM this year -- and it seems the manufacturer has an industry- first in the works. During Hot Chips 33, an annual semiconductor disclosure event, Samsung revealed the development of its first DDR5 512GB RAM module. This new memory module is said to offer an up to 40% increase in performance over DDR4, combined with double the capacity and a lower voltage.

The announcement of the new massive memory stick was accompanied by more in-depth information about its architecture. DDR5-7200 is going to be a 512GB module made out of eight-stacked DDR5 dies. The dies are said to be connected with the use of through-silicon via (TSV) technology. The upgrade to eight dies is significant. It shows a marked improvement over DDR4 memory, which was always limited to four dies even in the best RAM available.

Read more
DDR5 RAM will be much faster than DDR4, but it comes with one major compromise
A corsair cooler with DDR5 RAM around it.

DDR5 memory is on the horizon, and leading manufacturers are gearing up for its release. Corsair is one of the brands that is preparing to release DDR5 RAM soon. The company revealed more about the possibilities of DDR5 RAM, as well as some of the difficulties, including the fact that it will run much hotter than DDR4.

The warm-up is not a surprise. The best RAM in the DDR5 lineup is going to be up to 4 times more powerful than its predecessor, thus generating more heat. However, according to George Makris, Corsair's DIY Marketing Director, the reason also lies in the design of the memory module itself.

Read more