This ASRock Motherboard Can Support Both DDR4 & DDR5 RAM Thanks To A Unique Quirk

Here’s a bit of an oddity in the world of PC components as spotted by Uniko’s Hardware: the ASRock H610M COMBO motherboard can support not two, not four, but six memory slots on a single unit. Specifically, it can fit four DDR5 modules and two DDR4 modules, which is not something you’ll see in consumer models.

ASRock H610M COMBO

This ASRock motherboard is designed to cater towards commercial users, so its specs are nothing fancy by DIY PC’s standards – the novelty of having two types of memory support notwithstanding. Among them include a paltry 3+1 phase VRM, three USB-A ports, one USB-C port, HDMI and DisplayPort responsible for display outputs, plus a bunch of legacy ports like PS/2, RS-232, DVI-D, and VGA, though it does feature three PCIe slots and one legacy PCI slot.

Now you might ask: how does the six-slot memory even work in this case? Strictly speaking, the motherboard’s memory operates on two separate signals, one for DDR4 (up to 2666 MT/s), and one for DDR5 (up to 4800 MT/s), both supporting dual-channel configuration. However, only one of them can be active at a time, so enterprises that deploy these machines can choose between the more affordable DDR4 option, or the faster (and extremely expensive as of late) DDR5 option.

The reason all of this is possible in the first place is owed to Intel’s socket LGA1700 of processors, which includes Core 12th Gen, 13th Gen, and 14th Gen – these three generation of chips support both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, and they remain the only lineups that will support such configuration. So it’s safe to say that this H610M COMBO is a one-off design that took advantage of this unique timing of CPU memory support to create a product that offers the best of both worlds for commercial users.

Pokdepinion: A unique piece of motherboard, even if it’s intended for the less exciting parts of the PC space.