LGA 1511 DDR4 board with DDR3 RAM

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DDR3 is not recommended for use with ANY LGA 1151 processor, unless it's DDR3L low powered memory, regardless of whether the board says it supports it or not. Intel has indicated it will in all probability cause premature failure of the memory controller.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/skylake-memory-support,30185.html


As far as the board goes, you'd probably be just as well off with the Gigabyte Z170-Gaming 5 or ASUS Z170-A, which are a whole lot cheaper. In any case the Hero VIII doesn't support DDR3 or DDR3L anyhow, so it's a moot point for that board.
DDR3 is not recommended for use with ANY LGA 1151 processor, unless it's DDR3L low powered memory, regardless of whether the board says it supports it or not. Intel has indicated it will in all probability cause premature failure of the memory controller.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/skylake-memory-support,30185.html


As far as the board goes, you'd probably be just as well off with the Gigabyte Z170-Gaming 5 or ASUS Z170-A, which are a whole lot cheaper. In any case the Hero VIII doesn't support DDR3 or DDR3L anyhow, so it's a moot point for that board.
 
Solution
No, avoid the Pro4. It only has a 6 phase power design just like the Z97 version and usually will not tolerate stable overclocks much beyond the stock turbo speeds, just like it's predecessor. For a few bucks more you can get a MUCH better board. Pro4 should only be used if absolutely necessary to meet a budget.
 
Trying to use regular DDR3 with a Z170 motherboard can and will fry the memory controller in your CPU, which effectively kills your CPU since it can no longer access memory. Intel put out another warning about the hazards of using anything other than DDR4 1.2 volt or LPDDR3 1.35 volt memory with a Skylake processor.

Seems lots of people tried to take a shortcut and keep using their old DDR3 memory, and killed an otherwise perfectly good Skylake CPU in the process.

So if you are going to move to Skylake, spend the money on DDR4 1.2 volt memory, and forget about DDR3.
 


Source? I know about the warnings from Intel and that MJ article was based on interviews with an Intel source, but I've heard nothing about "lots' of people frying their processors", so if you have a source I'd like to read it for myself.
 
Yes, good decision. I'll be surprised if there are not lawsuits against the motherboard manufacturers for their claims of regular DDR3 support and compatibility. Just because something works, doesn't mean it's "right" and isn't causing damage. You can run almost any car on grain alcohol, but the engine isn't going to last long. Valves, rings and pistons are all going to burn up fairly quickly. This probably isn't a whole lot different scenario, although the degradation is likely to take a bit longer to present itself.
 
I went and started trying to track down where Intel posted this. To my surprise, the circle came right back to Tomshardware.com.

Skylake's IMC Supports Only DDR3L

Nothing in that article says people "have" fried their CPU, but it clearly implies that it could.

It is amazing how many articles were created across the internet based on this article.