Intel Optane PMem & NVDIMMs

[Ti_EgrDiv]

Hi there!

The purpose I created this is for PMem users. It is really a shame that Intel discontinue Optane project(caused by many reason).
However, there is many users (and fans maybe?) of PMem products because of its incredible performance and features in special area(s).
If you have any issues with using PMem 300, everybody is happy to answer for you! : )

No file(s) shared allowed due to security issue. Thank you for your cooperation.

Ti_EgrDiv

 

[Ti_EgrDiv]

Information you might need for CPS DIMMs
: )

 

[Not Sure]

Please tell us more about this. SPR seems to be quite the tinker'ers platform.

Regards.

 

[Ti_EgrDiv]

Please tell us more about this. SPR seems to be quite the tinker'ers platform.

Regards.

Yes, indeed. Rumors says the EMR was the full SPR, doubt its wrong : )

What specifically do you need.

 

[RolloZ170]

Rumors says the EMR was the full SPR, doubt its wrong : )

wrong.
EMR-SP is monolythic(MCC) / dual chiplet(XCC 3x EMIB), like SPR-SP MCC,
originaly Intel only planned four Tile processors.
i have some SPR-SP ES < 32 cores in XCC config with four tiles.
SPR-SP MCC was late design because intel must get rid of the 10 EMIB,
they drawed too much power at high mesh clocks.

 

[Ti_EgrDiv]

wrong.
EMR-SP is monolythic(MCC) / dual chiplet(XCC 3x EMIB), like SPR-SP MCC,
originaly Intel only planned four Tile processors.
i have some SPR-SP ES < 32 cores in XCC config with four tiles.
SPR-SP MCC was late design because intel must get rid of the 10 EMIB,
they drawed too much power at high mesh clocks.

Thanks for pointed it out.
Just a 4677 joke cause SPR-SP still bring many bugs even for stepping 8 formal prod., and EMR was coming to save the world of LGA4677.
But of course this is definitely the fact

 

[gobigorgohome]

Thank you for creating this. I have been through a LOT of @RolloZ170 comments as I figure this out.

I am convinced to make use of the PMEM 300 I have acquired.... but in memory mode. I don't know if I will end up using anything that can benefit from app direct mode. I knew I was buying PMEM, but didn't realize that memory mode had been limited for the 300 series on some motherboards until I started going down the rabbit hole.

I am wondering if anyone knows whether Supermicro's boards still support PMEM 300 in memory mode:

• The 1st version of the B13SEE-CPU-25G and SSG-121E-NES24R manuals mention it
  • not sure if the memory mode exists in the current bios versions
• MBD-X13OEI-CPU and MBD-X13QEH+ mention PMEM 300 support but no idea if they support memory mode
  • also absolutely absurd models for a total beginner who just wants to have fun figuring out hardware and making it work to obtain - what on earth would I do with something of this capacity afterwards... Same applies to the SSG-121E-NES24R

Other info I've gathered:

• CPU is going to cost me a lot of money, but if I want to save money and get an ES CPU, I will need to get a Gigabyte motherboard.
  • current bios of the Gigabyte boards doesn't support memory mode
• ASrock SPC741D8-2T/BCM or SPC741D8-2L2T/BCM if memory mode fails it will fail back to 1 layer memory
  • not sure if memory mode is actually still supported
• someone in this forum has mentioned Tyan with a custom changes to the bios which is way beyond my ability
• intel serverboards (M50FCP2SBSTD and another one) manuals mention having removed pmem 300 support
  • Not sure if this is just from the manual or actually in the bios as well

I am trying to learn new things, but also make this as painless as possible. I am also willing to wait until used motherboards and CPUs start showing up in the secondary market.

If Supermicro does support memory mode, would it be the best bet in terms of ease, or is there a better option? (Supermicro is also expensive so it may be a while before I am waiting for prices to drop).

(and thank you so much for the information you all have shared so far. It has been incredibly helpful. I feel like this answer may have already been shared in one of the comments I have read in this forum but didn't understand due to my lack of understanding of what all the acronyms are and not being to follow if the discussion is still about pmem 300 boards or something else in the larger motherboard discussion).

 

[gobigorgohome]

Adding a post that I will edit to compile compatible motherboards (based on the manual - actual compatibility not confirmed).

For now I have chosen to not look into Gigabyte and Tyan because it is clear based on forum posts that memory mode would require custom bios changes. From the list below I removed mention of which intel CPU chip this is compatible with because that we all should know (even me )

If you happen to have one of the boards listed, can you please confirm if memory mode works with the respective bios version. Thank you!

ASRock

Model	Features
SP2C741D16NQM3-2Q Maybe also SP2C741D16NQM3-NL (same manual)	EEB (12.8" x 14") 8+8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 1 PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16 8 MCIO (PCIe5.0 x8) 1 OCuLink (PCIe3.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Supports 1 M.2 (PCIe5.0 x4) Up to 4 SATA 6Gb/s 1 OCP NIC 3.0 (PCIe5.0 x16) 2 SFP28 (25GbE) by Broadcom BCM57414 Remote management (IPMI)
SP2C741D16HM3	Half-width (6.7" x 21") 8+8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 2 Gen Z 4C (PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16) 2 ExaMAX (PCIe5.0 x16) 2 MCIO (PCIe5.0 x8) 2 M.2 (PCIe4.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Up to 10 SATA 6Gb/s 1 OCP NIC 3.0 (PCIe5.0 x16) Remote management (IPMI)
SP2C741D16X-2T	EEB (12.4'' x 14") 8+8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 6 PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16 1 PCIe5.0 x8 2 MCIO (PCIE5.0 x8) 3 OCuLink (PCIe3.0 x4 or 4 SATA 6Gb/s) Supports 1 M.2 (PCIe5.0 x4) Up to 13 SATA 6Gb/s 2 RJ45 (10GbE) by Intel X710-AT2 Remote management (IPMI)
SPC741D8HM3	Half-Width (6.6" x 17") 8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 2 Slim Cool Edge (PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16) 4 MCIO (PCIe5.0 x8) 2 OCulink Supports 2 M.2 (PCIe3.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Up to 8 SATA 6Gb/s 1 OCP NIC 3.0 (PCIe5.0 x16) Remote management (IPMI)
SPC741D8UD-2T/X550 Maybe also SPC741D8UD-2T (same manual)	Deep Micro-ATX (10.4" x 10.5") 8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 4 PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16 2 MCIO (PCIE5.0 x8) Supports 1 M.2 (PCIe3.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Up to 9 SATA 6Gb/s 2 RJ45 (10GbE) by Intel X550-AT2 Supports ATX PSU or 12V DC-in Remote management (IPMI)
SPC741D8QM3-2T/X550	CEB (12'' x 10.5'') 8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 1 PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16 1 PCIe4.0 x16 4 MCIO (PCIe5.0 x8) 1 OCuLink (PCIe3.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Supports 2 M.2 (PCIe3.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Up to 8 SATA 6Gb/s 1 OCP NIC 3.0 (PCIe5.0 x16) 2 RJ45 (10GbE) by Intel® X550-AT2 Remote management (IPMI)
SPC741D8-2L2T/BCM Maybe also SPC741D8-2T/BCM (same manual)	CEB (12'' x 10.5'') 8 DIMM slots (1DPC), supports DDR5 RDIMM/ RDIMM-3DS 4 PCIe5.0 / CXL1.1 x16 1 MCIO (PCIe3.0 x4 or 4 SATA 6Gb/s), 2 MCIO (PCIe5.0 x8) 2 M.2 slots (PCIe3.0 x4 or SATA 6Gb/s) Up to 12 SATA 6Gb/s 2 RJ45 (10GbE) by Broadcom BCM57416 2 RJ45 (1GbE) by Intel® i210 Remote Management (IPMI)

Supermicro - Don't waste your money

Originally I listed a bunch of potential Supermicro options. They have confirmed that PMEM 300 will not work on their motherboards. If you have come across a Supermicro manual that mentions PMEM 300, ignore it. That manual is not up to date, and there is no forum post, here or elsewhere, I have come across as of editing where there is first hand confirmation of successfully used one of the Supermicro boards. As mentioned by @Ti_EgrDiv below, you might be able to get it to work on a 1.0 motherboard, but I wouldn't invest in a 1.0 version of Supermicro with the hope of making it work. Try if you already have that board for funsies, and report back.

For reference, the Supermicro boards that I had previously listed were:

• B13SEE-CPU-25G (For SuperServer Only)
• SSG-121E-NES24R
• X13OEI-CPU (For SuperServer Only)
• X13DEI (For SuperServer Only)
• X13DEM (For SuperServer Only)
• X13DET-B (For SuperServer Only)
• X13QEH+ (For SuperServer Only)

 

[Ti_EgrDiv]

Thank you for creating this. I have been through a LOT of @RolloZ170 comments as I figure this out.

I am convinced to make use of the PMEM 300 I have acquired.... but in memory mode. I don't know if I will end up using anything that can benefit from app direct mode. I knew I was buying PMEM, but didn't realize that memory mode had been limited for the 300 series on some motherboards until I started going down the rabbit hole.

I am wondering if anyone knows whether Supermicro's boards still support PMEM 300 in memory mode:

• The 1st version of the B13SEE-CPU-25G and SSG-121E-NES24R manuals mention it
  • not sure if the memory mode exists in the current bios versions
• MBD-X13OEI-CPU and MBD-X13QEH+ mention PMEM 300 support but no idea if they support memory mode
  • also absolutely absurd models for a total beginner who just wants to have fun figuring out hardware and making it work to obtain - what on earth would I do with something of this capacity afterwards... Same applies to the SSG-121E-NES24R

Other info I've gathered:

• CPU is going to cost me a lot of money, but if I want to save money and get an ES CPU, I will need to get a Gigabyte motherboard.
  • current bios of the Gigabyte boards doesn't support memory mode
• ASrock SPC741D8-2T/BCM or SPC741D8-2L2T/BCM if memory mode fails it will fail back to 1 layer memory
  • not sure if memory mode is actually still supported
• someone in this forum has mentioned Tyan with a custom changes to the bios which is way beyond my ability
• intel serverboards (M50FCP2SBSTD and another one) manuals mention having removed pmem 300 support
  • Not sure if this is just from the manual or actually in the bios as well

I am trying to learn new things, but also make this as painless as possible. I am also willing to wait until used motherboards and CPUs start showing up in the secondary market.

If Supermicro does support memory mode, would it be the best bet in terms of ease, or is there a better option? (Supermicro is also expensive so it may be a while before I am waiting for prices to drop).

(and thank you so much for the information you all have shared so far. It has been incredibly helpful. I feel like this answer may have already been shared in one of the comments I have read in this forum but didn't understand due to my lack of understanding of what all the acronyms are and not being to follow if the discussion is still about pmem 300 boards or something else in the larger motherboard discussion).

For Supermicro X13 Series specifically, most of the rev1.00 (es) boards supports both MM, AD and XM with fADR available. As for GBT's products, different model have their own complete different situation, some of the SKU/BIOS ver. removed the support of PMem entirely, some SKU/BIOS ver. kept AD only. However for now I know, all the formal prod. of supermicro platform removes all the support of PMem 300 series.

Instead of the platform, CPU will not be that expensive if you consider to bring es/qs productions into this discussion. Some of the qs and es, especially D0 stepping XCC SPRs contains the PMem supported memory controller.

The ASRock platforms is still under investigation so I could not provide too much informations. However the Intel M50FCP series products support PMems with AD mode only in the early released firmwares, you can try to reflash the early stage BIOS if you want.

 

[gobigorgohome]

The ASRock platforms is still under investigation so I could not provide too much informations.

I would say that it is 50/50 at this point if PMEM 300 works with ASRock.

There are PMEM options within the Bios of the board that @RolloZ170 has graciously been looking into for me, but it is unknown whether the options actually link to anything (which is pretty damn important).

I have connected with someone at ASRock (ASRock guy... I appreciate you!), and they are looking into this for us. I will update this comment when I have more information.

For anyone waiting for updates, and reading this while it still has not been edited with confirmation of compatibility, what I can say with confidence is that information on manufacturer websites and manuals may not be accurate as it relates to PMEM 300. Supermicro's manuals had the most information about PMEM 300 as of September 2, 2026, yet PMEM 300 will not work with their motherboards. ASRock manuals have little mention of it, but the code relating to PMEM 300 still floats around in the Bios.

If you are buying a motherboard, make sure you are okay with it not working with PMEM 300 (or go the Gigabyte route with an old or modified version of the BIOS). I have not been exploring this option (yet), as I prefer a board version that is current and can be warrantied, but other people have successfully used Gigabyte and they can share more information about what to do and look for.

 

[gobigorgohome]

Got PMEM? Update your firmware: INTEL-SA-00948

The GitHub where the files live has been archived but if you check out the issues log, you may find some helpful information that is completely unrelated to the security update: Releases · intel/ipmctl

 

[AVID-MEDIA]

I am wondering if anyone knows whether Supermicro's boards

I contacted SM tech-support directly regarding this issue.
They gave me a clear answer.
Although the specified memory appears to meet the specifications, we recommend not using it.
Any further actions are at your own risk.

 

[AVID-MEDIA]

And the prices for this memory
are sky-high.
In addition:
Intel does not intend to continue enablement of the Intel® Optane™ PMem 300 Series with 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® products.

 

[gobigorgohome]

And the prices for this memory
are sky-high.
In addition:
Intel does not intend to continue enablement of the Intel® Optane™ PMem 300 Series with 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® products.

I’m fairly certain that all of us that have been active in this thread are very aware of this.

This thread is a place where people are posting details of what did work. Because some people have got it to work. If you search “pmem 300” in this forum, you will come across posts from a few people who’ve made it work.

If you’d like to actually be helpful, summarizing the many comments left throughout the forum would be great.

 

[Ti_EgrDiv]

I’m fairly certain that all of us that have been active in this thread are very aware of this.

This thread is a place where people are posting details of what did work. Because some people have got it to work. If you search “pmem 300” in this forum, you will come across posts from a few people who’ve made it work.

If you’d like to actually be helpful, summarizing the many comments left throughout the forum would be great.

Yes indeed. Caused by numerous influences of global storage market, the budgets goes tighter but more and more advance tasks requires much higher DRAM capacity than before. Due to the limitations of budget and/or the capacity available for different platforms, it sometimes force us to find a more suitable, custom hardware solutions for our own tasks.

That's why I established this thread and what it's for. Any discussions and informations about APS, BPS and CPS or even DPS products are welcome in this form. If you met any problems while boot/work with persistent memories, sent messages anytime so you could gain helps.

Welcome to the NVDIMM discussion ; )

 

[AVID-MEDIA]

Welcome to the NVDIMM discussion ; )

Thank you so much for creating this thread!!!

 

[AVID-MEDIA]

Guys, who uses PMEM?
Please share some information.
What MOBO and BIOS version do you have?

REGARDS

 

[AVID-MEDIA]

After conversation with @RolloZ170
The best option for me-personally is
MS73-HB0+ES-QYFS/R with a specific BIOS version
The 300 series should probably work

 

[gobigorgohome]

After conversation with @RolloZ170
The best option for me-personally is
MS73-HB0+ES-QYFS/R with a specific BIOS version
The 300 series should probably work

I feel the next thing we need should do is make a table with the motherboard and the version of bios that it is last known to work with.

Many people have successfully used gigabyte.

To anyone who uses Gigabyte, once you have it working, you risk losing support once you update the bios. At some point they removed it entirely.

If you have the skills to go back a BIOS version that will work in your favour. If you’re like me, and don’t have those skills (yet), don’t update!

 

[Ti_EgrDiv]

After conversation with @RolloZ170
The best option for me-personally is
MS73-HB0+ES-QYFS/R with a specific BIOS version
The 300 series should probably work

In case you didn't have the rev. info for BIOS, in theory the Fxx will be the one.