Hardware options installation 41
Memory options
This server contains eight memory cartridge connectors in the processor memory drawer. Each memory
cartridge can contain eight DIMMs, for a total of 64 DIMMs.
The server supports the following DIMM speeds:
• Single- and dual-rank PC3-10600 (DDR-1333) DIMMs operating at 1066 MHz
• Quad-rank PC3-8500 (DDR-1066) DIMMs operating at 1066 MHz
Depending on the processor model, the memory clock speed may be reduced to 1066 or 800 MHz.
Memory overview
The HP ProLiant DL580 G7 Server uses the next generation Intel® Xeon™ 7500-series processor. This
processor’s architecture departs radically from previous Intel Xeon front-side-bus-based architectures. In
front-side bus architectures, the memory controller was incorporated in the north bridge, which produced
a common sharepoint for memory accesses for all processors. Similar to the dual-socket Intel Xeon 5500
processor, the Intel Xeon 7500 processor employs a NUMA architecture incorporating QPI links for point-
to-point connectivity between processors and provides dedicated local memory for each processor.
However, instead of directly connecting DIMMs to the processor, for the sake of higher memory
expansion, the Intel Xeon 7500 processor includes a memory buffer for each SMI in its memory
subsystem. With this Intel Xeon 7500 architecture, two memory controllers and four scalable memory
interfaces are embedded in each processor. SMI links run at a higher bit rate. There are four SMIs per
processor, and each SMI link supports two DDR buses through a memory buffer. A four-socket system
provides 6.4 times the memory bandwidth as compared to the previous generation 4S Xeon processors.
DIMM support
The server supports the following DIMMs:
• Single- and dual-rank PC3-10600 (DDR3-1333) DIMMs operating at 1066 MT/s
While single-rank DIMMs are supported, HP recommends dual-rank and quad-rank DIMMs since
they provide significant memory throughput and better memory protection (Online Spare memory
mode) over single-rank DIMMs.
• Quad-rank PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066) DIMMs operating at 1066 MT/s
Single-, dual-, and quad-rank DIMMs
To understand and configure memory protection modes properly, an understanding of single-, dual-, and
quad-rank DIMMs is helpful. Some DIMM configuration requirements are based on these classifications.
A single-rank DIMM has one set of memory chips that is accessed while writing to or reading from the
memory. A dual-rank DIMM is similar to having two single-rank DIMMs on the same module, with only
one rank accessible at a time. A quad-rank DIMM is effectively two dual-rank DIMMs on the same
module. Only one rank is accessible at a time. The server memory control subsystem selects the proper
rank within the DIMM when writing to or reading from the DIMM.
Dual- and quad-rank DIMMs provide the greatest capacity with the existing memory technology. For
example, if current DRAM technology supports 2-GB single-rank DIMMs, a dual-rank DIMM would be 4-
GB and a quad-rank DIMM would be 8-GB.
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