ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Motherboard Review

Memory Support

AMD CPUs have an embedded memory controller, meaning that it is the processor, and not the chipset, that defines the memory technologies and the maximum amount of memory you can have. The motherboard, however, may have a limitation as to how much memory can be installed.

At the moment, the integrated memory controller of socket AM3 processors supports only DDR3 memories up to 1,333 MHz under dual-channel architecture, however ASUS says M4A89GT
D PRO/USB3 supports DDR3 memories up to 1,866 MHz through overclocking. M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 has four DDR3 sockets and since, at the moment, each DDR3 memory module can have up to 4 GB, you can have up to 16 GB with this motherboard.

The first and the third sockets are black, while the second and the fourth are blue. In order to achieve the maximum performance, you should install two or four memory modules to enable the dual-channel architecture. When only two modules are used, install them in sockets with the same color in order to enable this feature.

Figure 5: Memory sockets. Install two or four modules for the best performance.

Like other high-end motherboards from ASUS, M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 comes with a built-in memory compatibility tester called MemOK!. To activate this feature all you need to do is to push a button located near the main motherboard connector (see Figure 5) for a few seconds after you turn on the computer until you see the red LED next to it start blinking. Then the motherboard will check if your memory modules are compatible with your CPU and will display a message on the screen after some seconds. If this LED is permanently turned on and the system does not show a message even after you wait one minute, then your modules are not installed correctly/have bad contact with the sockets, they are incompatible or they are damaged.