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It is finally here, DDR5 RAM was released on the 4th November 2021 alongside Intel 12th gen CPUs and Z690 motherboards.
It’s been around 4 years since the first signs of DDR5 RAM started to emerge, and since then, not that much has actually happened.
DDR5 RAM is set to supersede DDR4 in almost every area – faster speeds, greater bandwidth, better power efficiency – you name it, DDR5 does it better.
That being said, the last 6 months have played host to some breakthrough moments in the DDR5 movement – with the last couple of weeks showcasing a tonne of reveals from the market’s leading memory manufacturers.
Whilst there is no official release date on DDR5 memory modules just yet, leading manufacturers are beginning to unveil fully functional DDR5 memory kits to the public. Amongst the speculation, best guesses suggest that the new DDR5 platform will launch around the same time as Intel’s Z690 motherboards. However, like all DDR5 news over the last few years, we’ll be taking this with a pinch of salt. Furthermore, with the current shortage in, well, pretty much everything PC-related, there’s a strong chance the arrival of DDR5 will sadly be delayed.
All being said, we’ll try to answer some of the more pressing questions surrounding next-gen memory in this article: when will DDR5 be released? Is it worth purchasing DDR5 RAM? How will DDR5 compare with DDR4 RAM? These are just some of the topics we’ll be covering below.
DDR5 RAM Latest News
- Corsair Dominator Platinum & Vengeance DDR5 announced
- G.Skill unveils flagship Trident Z5 DDR5 modules
- Samsung announce production of 24GB DDR5 ICs
- XPG Showcase DDR5 Memory Modules
- TeamGroup Announce DDR5 4800MHz Memory Modules
- Sk Hynix confirm production of DDR5 memory
- DDR5 RAM should arrive as soon as Q3 2021
- TeamGroup plan to release a 16GB DDR5 stick with 4,800MHz frequency
- 11th Generation Rocket Lake-S CPUs will NOT support DDR5
- Corsair set to release DDR5-6400MHz (2022 arrival)
VIDEO: DDR4 v DDR5 RAM – Will it be worth the upgrade?
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”ZqvHLXEr” upload-date=”2021-07-13T13:35:27.000Z” name=”DDR4 v DDR5 RAM – Will it be worth the upgrade?” description=”In this video Jay talks about DDR4 v DDR5 RAM. DDR5 is the next generation of RAM that has been the subject of speculation for the past couple of years. But are we ready for it yet?” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
DDR5 Performance
We’ve been hearing whispers of DDR5 that stretch back to early 2018, however, not much has been announced regarding physical performance until earlier this year.
DDR4 Vs DDR5
Developers are promising some impressive figures for DDR5, stating that the next-gen RAM modules will have twice the performance of today’s DDR4-3200 RAM. All sounds mighty impressive, but what exactly does twice the performance actually mean?
Well, in a nutshell, the DDR5 design promises to hit shelves with double the density and double the speed of 1st gen DDR4-3200 modules. In addition to this, where DDR4 maxes out at 32GB per stick, DDR5 will be able to accommodate a much greater volume – with 128GB not being out of the question. Furthermore, many memory manufacturers are boasting speeds of up to 8,400MHz – with native frequencies sitting at an impressive 4,800MHz. This is a huge uplift when compared to DDR4, even when paired against the most overclocked modules.
Many DDR5 memory kits will also come with onboard overclocking support. The Geil Polaris series, for example, is said to offer overclocking support of up to DDR5-7200MHz – a 50% increase over the average DDR5-4800 kit. While we aren’t certain this will be advantageous to AMD processors, Ryzen is renowned for delivering better performance when paired with high-speed RAM. If speculations are to be believed, this will naturally be a perfect fit for AMD APUs & CPUs as they tend to thrive on higher speed memory.
The table below outlines some of the finer details that we can expect from the latest module.
[table id=109 /]
As you can clearly see, DDR5 offers much higher data rates, lower overall power consumption, higher density per stick, and a BL16 burst length which, when all paired together, shows the true potential this hardware brings to the table.
The data rate, which for us is one of the better improvements we’ve seen over DDR4, actually allows for an increase of 1.36X effective bandwidth when comparing DDR4 vs DDR5 at 3200Mhz. If you do the same math against a higher speed DDR5 (4800Mhz) then the results produce almost double what DDR4 has to offer. See the chart below:
And let’s not forget, this isn’t factoring in overclocking profiles and higher-speed DDR5 memory (up to 8,400MHz).
There are other benefits to DDR5 which include two independent 40-bit channels per mode, an improved command bus efficiency, increase bank group, and refresh schemes as well.
DDR5 Release Date
Back in March of 2017, JEDEC announced that DDR5 was being worked on and should be released in 2018. Jumping forward to November 2018, SK Hynix finally announced the first-ever DDR5 compliant RAM module, stating that the kits would be available for consumer purchase by end of 2020.
In a strange turn of events, SK Hynix actually slashed the release date to 2019, sparking exciting and speculation around the new DDR5 RAM modules. Ultimately, however, that wasn’t to be.
Fast forward to the present day and DDR5 is still as elusive as it ever was. Well, not as elusive, there have been some major movements in the launch of DDR5 that came to fruition at the end of 2020.
SK Hynix finally revealed the world’s first DDR5 memory modules – coming to theoretical shelves with 5,6000Mbps of raw bandwidth and operating at a lower voltage of 1.1V. While the new kits were set to hit shelves by Q3 of 2021, that wasn’t to be. As I write this now, Z690 motherboards and Intel’s 12th Gen CPUs are looking set to launch by the end of 2021 – with DDR5 following suit.
Because new CPUs now have more cores than ever, improvements in the RAM industry have had to be made to keep up with the GB/s per-core bandwidth demands. Thanks to the increased data rates, DDR5 clearly takes a huge step forward in the right direction, seen in the chart below.
DDR5 Price & Availability
DDR5 Expected Pricing
There is always speculation surrounding new hardware prices and DDR5 is no different. We currently don’t have a price for how much the superfast memory will cost but what we do know, based on historical evidence, is it’s going to be more than DDR4. Who knew. While this is no real surprise, it’s definitely still worth mentioning – especially when you consider how much some of the higher-end DDR4 RAM kits currently retail for.
The latest leaks for Geil Polaris DDR5 say that the next-gen entry-level memory kits could retail for as high as $329. Compare that with Premium DDR4 RAM that can retail for as high as $200 and it’s easy to understand DDR5’s pricing – especially when it promises to be twice as good. Other major manufacturers have yet to show their hand on pricing, but we can only speculate that most will be around the $329 marker set by Geil.
Availability is a similar story, unfortunately. We will likely see the arrival of DDR5 in the mobile community first via Samsung and Micron in the LPDDR5 variety. It’ll be a good benchmark for what we can expect for desktop PC variations though.
A solid indicator of when DDR5 is going to become fully mainstream has been displayed in a chart designed by SK Hynix. They’ve tried to estimate how the sales market will be split in the coming years. Below is the chart.
SK Hynix initially estimated that 25% of all memory market sales will be represented by DDR5 in 2020 – with over 40% expected by 2021. Despite this not being the case, it still gives us a good indication of how much the RAM is going to cost as they believe DDR4 is still going to have a major part to play in the memory game.
DDR5 Availability – Where to buy – pre order
- XPG Lancer DDR5 5200MHz 32GB (2x16GB)
- Geil Polaris RGB DDR5 32GB (16GBx2) 4800MHz
- TEAMGROUP Elite DDR5 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) 4800MHz
- ADATA Premier DDR5 4800MHz 32GB (2x16GB)
- Crucial RAM 8GB DDR5 4800MHz
- G.skill Trident RGB DDR5
- Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5
- TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5
- TeamGroup T-Force Vulcan DDR5
- Kingston Fury DDR5
Is DDR5 Worth Buying?
Well, that’s the big question. It all comes down to how much these modules are going to cost once they’re released.
As most will already know, for years, upgrading your RAM was probably the least effective way of achieving performance gains in your system. However, since the release of AMD’s new CPU & APU hierarchy, that’s no longer the case.
AMD CPUs literally thrive when paired with speedier RAM – meaning the arrival of DDR5 8,400Mhz will be a welcome one, -especially now Ryzen’s 5000-series CPU lineup starts to become more readily available. This being said, we aren’t fully aware of what hardware is going to be compatible with the new modules either, so we’ll have to play the waiting game for now.
Closing Thoughts
There you have it, everything we currently know about DDR5 memory. It’s going to be fascinating to see what sort of real-world improvements actually come from implementing this new rapid memory into your rig. Is it going to make a huge difference or not much at all?
Well, rest assured, as soon as desktop PC DDR5 hits shelves, our experience WePC benchmarking team will be doing a full breakdown of how effective this new hardware really is. We will be updating this page on a regular basis so that you guys are right up-to-date with the latest news and announcement.
Any questions regarding DDR5, feel free to leave us a message below and we’ll answer it the best we can!
Max size for DDR4 is 32GB, and for DDR5 it is 128 GB. The information is wrong about the max capacity. I have 2x32GB DDR4 memory in my laptop 🙂
Its 32GB per stick…
The biggest value to DDR5 is its inherent built in ECC (Error Correcting Coding). It corrects soft memory errors that happen a few times per month per DIMM.
This will break Intel’s segmentation of the processor market into chips for toys and those for quality business machines. Currently the toy processors used in intel-based x86/x64 laptops and desktops do not support ECC, while the business machine processors for workstations and servers do. Even AMD chips that do support ECC are deployed with memory and BIOS that do not, except in servers. That the user-side computers used in health care, financial services, and by aircraft pilots do not have ECC or even parity checking is almost criminal. Each of these devices make several unnoticed errors per month.
Built in ECC will restore the confidence in valid results which we lost when PC’s started proliferating without parity memory in the late 1980’s.
Hi, I am from pakistan. i want to know the release date of DDR5 ,
and 16 GB DDR5 how much it will worth.
I will be waiting……
Thank you
Hi, I have a question :
I’m planning to build a Desktop Computer(for DDR4: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X specs)/(for DDR5: AMD, low to mid-range / for gaming like Last of Us, Resident Evil, PUBG and for Virtual Assistant / Online Selling) from scratch and my question is if its worth it to wait for DDR5 Gen computers so that it will be “future proof”? And do you think DDR5 Desktop Computers will be very expensive even for low-end specs? I’m not really in a hurry to buy/build now.
Thank you in advance 😁
Marlon M.
How was this updated in Oct 18, 2020 when it talks about Ryzen 3000 series and they are releasing the 5000 series in a month?
Does anybody know whether intel would support DDR5 in the future? Also, do you think DDR5 would support notebooks?
Yes, they will. Almost definitely not on Rocket Lake (11000 chips in 2021), but I’d guess Tiger Lake (12000 chips in late 2021 or early 2022). Both manufacturers will be racing to it. AMD will push for their APU’s. Intel will push for marketing against AMD.
Does ddr5 will fit in ddr4 slot will it have same pins.any ryzen 2000 3000 4000 5000 series processors compatible with ddr5 and currently which am4 chipset b450 b550 x470 x570 motherboards supports ddr5. As I am purchasing new ryzen build so which intel or amd ryzen board or procssor I should prefer for ddr5 for future upgradbility. Or I have to updgrade whole motherboard processors for ddr5 compatibility or bios update can support ddr5.
Will ddr5 will fit in ddr4 slot will it have same pins.any ryzen 2000 3000 4000 5000 series processors compatible with ddr5 and currently which am4 chipset b450 b550 x470 x570 motherboards supports ddr5.
I am purchasing new ryzen build so which intel or amd ryzen board or processor I should prefer for ddr5 for future upgradability. Or I have to upgrade whole motherboard processors for ddr5 compatibility or bios update can support ddr5. So which one will be okay
Idk but intel will make the lga 1700 mobos support minimum 3 gens instead of 2 so both of them are upgradable.Am4 doesn’t support ddr5 so you need new mobo.
u will have to wait and upgrade board and cpu to support ddr
When I build a computer today how can I figure if is necessary is it to wait for DDR5 and buy a motherboard which accommodates that new RAM instead of using DDR4 and purchasing a mobo which is compatible. If it were a good thing to do, the obvious additional question is how much longer I would have to wait. I guess what I’m asking is if “One in the hand is worth two in the bush” in this case.If not, how long before the residents of the “bush” are released?
To quote all the Tech Talking Heads, if your current machine does what you want it to do, don’t replace it. If you want more performance, replace it. You’re looking at at least Q4 of 2021 before DDR5 platforms are reliably available. So can you wait about a year to get a new computer? For gaming with a dedicated graphics card, it won’t be much of an improvement by itself. The whole chipset/motherboard/cpu/RAM/GPU upgrade that will happen in the next year will be more than the DDR5.
do faster memory eliminates the need of bigger memory?in simple words 8gb DDR5 ram with higher frequency vs 16gb DDR4 ram,which one will benefit in performance?
I’d say that depends on your usage.
If you NEED the full 16 GBs for something then stick with it (get it?)
if you usually don’t go over the 8 gb mark then it would be better to upgrade
I do not believe that you should wait for DDR5 memory. You will end up having to upgrade most of your system and things that support it will be rare and expensive. Best to get a DDR4 right now and upgrade in about 5 – 10 years when the price becomes low for DDR5.
“buy now”!! Noooo buy the ddr4 when the ddr 5 comes out the price of it will be fall like everything else in todays markets.
It would be nice if ddr5 sticks fitted existing ddr4 slots on motherboards and unless they do, I won’t be rushing out to buy it.
Even if the ram would fit physically it would not work. You need a memory controller, which supports DDR5.
Essentially to make DDR5 work, you also need to buy a new mainboard and cpu. And for most consumers the new DDR specification won’t make that much of a difference. Most consumers use applications like office, browsers and games(with dedicated GPU), which are not bottlenecked by the by the memory bandwidth.
Agreed. Preferably you would need to wait for the new series motherboards and processors to match the speeds for ddr5. Take the pcie4 lane for instance, you can use a pcie4 nvme on a pcie3 slot, you just won’t see a speed difference unless you have pcie4
I have been waiting to see some info about DDR5 since 2014. LoL. I will be excited when it cowts more for my ram than for my CPU & mobo combined. 2x 16GB DDR5 4600MHz with great (Extremely low) clock latency timings will DEFINITELY cost ~$600 CAD. ie: Trident series. Either way, I am excited for DDR5 and PCIe 4.0 SSD transfer benefits 👍
”That basically means, where DDR4 maxes out at 16GB per stick.”
This was true…before 1+year. Today is not true!
We will have to wait for Ryzen to be improved before those higher speeds will be worthwhile. Right now, Zen 3 can’t even take advantage of the fastest DDR4 speeds because of Infinity Fabric. It has to resort to using a slower divider about 3600 speed.
Typo: I meant to write “above” not “about”.
but its not about sped its about size