ASRock's New Intel Motherboard Has Both DDR5 And DDR4 Memory Slots
Thanks to an AI arms race, PC memory prices have gotten out of control in the past several months (and also pushed Crucial out of the consumer market), but is a motherboard with slots for both DDR5 and DDR4 modules really the answer? Probably not but that didn't stop ASRock from quietly launching such a thing. Its new H610M Combo lives up to its model designation with six DIMM slots split unevenly for DDR5 and DDR4 kits.
Two of the DIMM slots support up to 64GB of DDR4 modules running at up to 2,666 MT/s while the other four are reserved for DDR5 modules in capacities up to 96GB and speeds at up to 4,800 MT/s. Before anyone gets any ideas of mixing and un-matching, however, you can't run both memory types at the same time, it's one or the other.
Credit to UNIKO's Hardware on X for spotting the entry, who notes that the last motherboard they spotted with support for both memory types was an Onda model from three years ago. However, that board only had one DIMM slot for each type, whereas ASRock's H610M Combo lets users go hog wild with multiple slots for dual-channel memory configurations.
Outside of having to choose one or the other, the other caveat is that this is board is based on an older chipset. It supports Intel 12th Gen, 13th Gen, and 14th Gen Core processors. In other words, Alder Lake and Raptor Lake / Raptor Lake Refresh processors on Intel's LGA 1700 socket, and not Intel's newer generation Arrow Lake lineup based on the LGA 1851 socket.
Still, it's an intriguing addition to ASRock's lineup and for anyone looking to repurpose DDR4 memory in a micro ATX build. ASRock's touting a 6-layer PCB with a 3+1 power phase deign. The board also features a single PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, a PCI slot, a single M.2 slot (PCIe Gen3x4 and SATA 6Gbps), four SATA 6Gbps ports, a GbE LAN port, and several USB 3.2 and 2.0 options.
There's no mention of pricing for ASRock's H610M Combo motherboard, but given the largely muted launch, the company's probably not targeting general consumers anyway.
