Scalability - IBM System x3850 X5 Implementation Manual

Table 2-2 through Table 2-4 show the memory capacity and bandwidth increases that are
possible with MAX5 for the HX5, x3690 X5, and x3850 X5.
Table 2-2 HX5 compared to HX5 with MAX5
Memory bandwidth
Memory capacity
Table 2-3 x3690 X5 compared to x3690 X5 with MAX5
Memory bandwidth
Memory capacity
a. Must install optional mezzanine board
Table 2-4 x3850 X5 compared to x3850 X5 with MAX5
Memory bandwidth
Memory capacity
For more information about system-specific MAX5 installation options, see the following
sections:
IBM System x3850 X5: "MAX5 memory" on page 79
IBM System x3690 X5: 4.8.3, "MAX5 memory" on page 136
IBM BladeCenter HX5: "MAX5 memory population order" on page 198

2.5 Scalability

The architecture of the eX5 servers permits system scaling of up to two nodes on HX5 and
x3850 X5. The architecture also supports memory scaling. Figure 2-12 shows these types of
scaling.
Figure 2-12 Types of scaling with eX5 systems
The x3850 X5 and HX5 both support 2-node system scaling or memory scaling. The
x3690 X5 supports memory scaling only.
HX5
16 DDR3 channels at 978 MHz
128 GB using 8 GB DIMMs
x3690 X5
32 DDR3 channels at 1066 MHz
512 GB using 16 GB DIMMs
x3850 X5
32 DDR3 channels at 1066 MHz
1 TB using 16 GB DIMMs
Server
QPI Scaling
MAX5
Memory scaling
HX5 with MAX5
16 DDR3 channels at 978 MHz
+ 12 DDR3 channels at 1066 MHz
320 GB using 8 GB DIMMs
x3690 with MAX5
a
64 DDR3 channels at 1066 MHz
1 TB using 16 GB DIMMs
x3850 X5 with MAX5
48 DDR3 channels at 1066 MHz
1.5 TB using 16 GB DIMMs
Server
QPI Scaling
Server
System scaling
Chapter 2. IBM eX5 technology
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