Lenovo ThinkStation P520, ThinkStation P520C Memory Configurations [en, ar, bg, cs, da, de, el, es, es, fi, fr, he, hr, hu, it, ko, nb, nl, pl, pt, pt, ro, ru, sh, sk, sl, sv, th, tr, uk, zc, zh]
LENOVO T HINKSTATION
P520 AND P520C MEMORY
CONFIGURATOR
Contents
OVERVIEW
SECTION 1 – PLATFORM MEMORY ARCHITECTURE
SECTION 2 – P520 MEMORY CONFIGURATIONS
SECTION 3 – P520C MEMORY CONFIGURATIONS
SECTION 4 – DOCUMENT REVISION HISTORY
Overview
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for users on how to optimally
configure the system memory in the ThinkStation P520 and P520c platforms in
order to provide the best performance.
Section 1 – Platform Memory Architecture
The launch of the Intel Basin Falls platform brings with it some important updates
to the memory system architecture. The main new feature is a higher top
supported memory bus speed, which provides increased memory performance
and bandwidth. Both the ThinkStation P520 and P520c can take advantage of
this improvement, but each platform does so in a slightly different manner.
1
CPU
DIMM 1
DIMM 2
DIMM 3
DIMM 4
DIMM 5
DIMM 6
DIMM 7
DIMM 8
Section 2 – P520 Memory Configurations
The ThinkStation P520 is Lenovo’s newest mainstream single CPU workstation.
The platform has a total of 8 DIMM slots with a top supported memory bus speed
of 2666MHz. The P520 takes full advantage of the 4 memory channels offered by
the Intel Xeon Skylake-W CPU, and supports a 2-DIMM-per-channel design. This
allows the P520 to offer incredible memory capacity at a top supported memory
bus speed of 2666MHz1. Figure 1 below shows a visual reference of the DIMM
slot layout for the P520 platform.
Figure 1 - P520 Motherboard DIMM Layout
Actual memory bus speed is determined by the CPU selected.
# of DIMMs
DIMM slots used
1 DIMM
DIMM 3
2 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 3
3 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 3, DIMM 6
4 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 3, DIMM 6, DIMM 8
5 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 3, DIMM 4, DIMM 6, DIMM 8
6 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 2, DIMM 3, DIMM 4, DIMM 6, DIMM 8
7 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 2, DIMM 3, DIMM 4, DIMM 5, DIMM 6, DIMM 8
8 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 2, DIMM 3, DIMM 4, DIMM 5, DIMM 6, DIMM 7,
DIMM 8
The following guidelines are recommended by Lenovo for obtaining the best
memory bandwidth from your P520 when filling DIMM slots:
For optimal memory bandwidth, Lenovo recommends filing DIMM
slots in multiples of 4 DIMMs or 8 DIMMs to fully take advantage of
all 4 memory channels. Utilizing all 8 DIMM slots should yield
maximum memory bandwidth performance.
DIMM slots should be filled in the order listed in Figure 2.
If using mixed capacity memory, fill DIMM slots in numerical order
starting with the largest DIMMs first.
White DIMM slots represent the first DIMM in each channel. Black
DIMM slots represent the second DIMM in each channel.
Figure 2 shows the recommended DIMM slot fill order for P520.
Figure 2 – P520 DIMM Slot Fill Order Recommendations
2
CPU
DIMM 1
DIMM 2
DIMM 3
DIMM 4
Section 3 – P520c Memory Configurations
The ThinkStation P520c is another addition to the mainstream single CPU lineup.
Like the P520, the P520c supports the maximum 4 memory channels offered by
the Intel Xeon E5 Skylake-W CPU at 2666MHz2. However, the P520c only
supports single DIMM per channel configurations. This allows users to attain high
levels of memory performance at a lower cost. Figure 3 below shows a visual
reference of the DIMM slot layout for the P520c platform.
Figure 3 - P520c Motherboard DIMM Layout
Actual memory bus speed is determined by the CPU selected.
s# of DIMMs
DIMM slots used
1 DIMM
DIMM 2
2 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 2
3 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 2, DIMM 3
4 DIMMs
DIMM 1, DIMM 2, DIMM 3, DIMM 4
The following guidelines are recommended by Lenovo for obtaining the best
memory bandwidth from your P520c when filling DIMM slots:
For optimal memory bandwidth performance, Lenovo recommends
filling all 4 DIMM slots with identical DIMMs to take full advantage of
all 4 memory channels.
DIMM slots should be filled according to the order listed in Figure 4.
If using mixed capacity memory, fill DIMM slots in numerical order
starting with the largest DIMMs first.
Figure 4 shows the recommended DIMM slot fill order for P520.
Figure 4 - P520c DIMM Slot Fill Order
Version
Date
Author
Changes/Updates
1.0
11/21/2017
Cory Chapman
Initial launch release
Section 4 – Document Revision History
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