Crucial Claims Faster, Lower Power DDR4 Memory Could Ship Before Year End
Next generation DDR4 SDRAM is right around the corner, folks. Leading the charge is Crucial, a subsidiary of Micron, which is pushing to make DDR4 memory modules available to consumers by the end of the year. That doesn't mean you should hit the panic button and sell off your recently assembled system sporting DDR3 memory slots, but it does mean the next time you build a PC, it may sport DDR4 RAM.
There are several upsides to DDR4 compared to DDR3. DDR4 offers twice as much density, allowing you to get more out of a single memory module. The smaller dies translate into more gigabits per component, which in turn lead to higher capacity modules, up to 16GB. While pricing will probably be prohibitive at the outset, imagine outfitting a future system with four 16GB DDR4 memory modules.
Source: Crucial
Density and capacity aren't the only upsides. DDR4 memory is more than twice as fast as DDR3 while using up to 20 percent less power. Granted, you're not going to notice any savings on your power bill because you switched to DDR4 memory, but data centers and large-scale applications will certainly benefit. For the home user, the lower power consumption of DDR4 is one of the factors that will help increase overall battery life in mobile applications like tablet PCs and Ultrabooks.
"With DDR4 memory in your system, get ready to process data twice as fast, load applications faster, experience quick snap responsiveness and increased ability to multitask. If you thought the tablets, Ultrabooks, and desktops of today already seem fast — get ready to be blown away," Crucial says. "The technology that enables electronics is about to get better and faster than ever before."
The DDR4 standard has already been approved by JEDEC, so it's now up to manufacturers to get the ball rolling.
There are several upsides to DDR4 compared to DDR3. DDR4 offers twice as much density, allowing you to get more out of a single memory module. The smaller dies translate into more gigabits per component, which in turn lead to higher capacity modules, up to 16GB. While pricing will probably be prohibitive at the outset, imagine outfitting a future system with four 16GB DDR4 memory modules.
Source: Crucial
Density and capacity aren't the only upsides. DDR4 memory is more than twice as fast as DDR3 while using up to 20 percent less power. Granted, you're not going to notice any savings on your power bill because you switched to DDR4 memory, but data centers and large-scale applications will certainly benefit. For the home user, the lower power consumption of DDR4 is one of the factors that will help increase overall battery life in mobile applications like tablet PCs and Ultrabooks.
"With DDR4 memory in your system, get ready to process data twice as fast, load applications faster, experience quick snap responsiveness and increased ability to multitask. If you thought the tablets, Ultrabooks, and desktops of today already seem fast — get ready to be blown away," Crucial says. "The technology that enables electronics is about to get better and faster than ever before."
The DDR4 standard has already been approved by JEDEC, so it's now up to manufacturers to get the ball rolling.
