ASUS engineer demos budget-focused HUDIMM DDR5 memory on ROG Maximus Z890 Apex

We recently covered ASRock's partnership with Intel and TeamGroup on a budget memory standard called HUDIMM. Now, following that announcement, an ASUS ROG motherboard engineer has shown the one-sub-channel HUDIMM concept working on a ROG Maximus Z890 Apex board.

Bing Lin, a member of the ASUS ROG motherboard R&D team, posted the feat on Facebook, in which he used two modified 24GB DDR5 modules, each set to a single sub-channel. Lin taped part of a module and disabled half the channels in BIOS. As a result, the total DRAM capacity appears as 24 GB (12 GB x 2) instead of 48 GB (24 GB x 2), since both DIMMs use one sub-channel mode.

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Lin also gained access to a TeamGroup HUDIMM module with 8GB capacity. It uses one sub-channel and has half the DRAM banks populated with 4 ICs instead of the usual 8. The module booted without issues in BIOS and is rated at 4800 MT/s, the baseline speed for DDR5.

The choice of the ROG Maximus Z890 Apex for the demo is also worth noting. It is an expensive overclocking board, but its two-DIMM design makes it a natural fit for this kind of demonstration, showing what the platform can still achieve with unconventional memory configurations.

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Unlike ASRock, which has confirmed support for its Intel 600-, 700-, and 800-series platforms, ASUS has only indicated that it is working on support for this memory type. It is unclear if ASUS will partner with memory vendors or expand support across the full LGA-1851 lineup.

ASRock's new memory standard allows for cost-effective PC builds by using a single sub-channel design instead of the standard two, effectively halving DRAM capacity relative to what the modules are actually capable of. But it is cheaper, and for entry-level builders, 16 to 24GB of DDR5 is more than enough for everyday needs. HUDIMM is not a permanent solution, but it gives budget builders a more sensible option during stubbornly high DDR5 memory prices.