The state of DDR4 @ ExtremeTech

Looking back you'll notice that the adoption rates for system memory are rather slow and really driven more by price than anything else.  However that was when chipsets handled system memory interfaces and it was up to the motherboard makers to determine how many modules would be supported and what interface would be used.

Now that processors control the memory to make a jump from DDR3 to DDR4 would require a new processor package and likely a new socket type.  This isn't something you push on the retail consumer unless there were real benefits to be seen.

Samsung announced a year ago that it had developed the first 2GB DDR4 modules using a 30nm process technology, achieving with them transfer rates of 2.133Gbps at 1.2 volts. Three months later, Hynix came up with its own DDR4-2400 modules operating at the same voltage.

Given that DDR3 is still being explored any radical change in memory architecture would likely hit the ultra high-end segments first, namely Servers and Workstations (assuming people use them anymore).  

Personally I'm rather excited to see what DDR4 brings to the table.

Related Web URL: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/118989-the-st...