JEDEC finalizes DDR5 spec

[coldcoconutoil]

Summary

 

The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association has finalized the specs arriving in the new generation of DDR5 memory, which was planned for release in 2018. Considerable speed and capacity upgrades are seen here, with memory speeds going up to 6.4 Gbps,  and the max DIMM size going upto 128 GB.

 

Quotes

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Designed to span several years (if not longer), DDR5 will allow for individual memory chips up to 64Gbit in density, which is 4x higher than DDR4’s 16Gbit density maximum. Combined with die stacking, which allows for up to 8 dies to be stacked as a single chip, then a 40 element LRDIMM can reach an effective memory capacity of 2TB. Or for the more humble unbuffered DIMM, this would mean we’ll eventually see DIMM capacities reach 128GB for your typical dual rank configuration.

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Typically a new standard picks up from where the last one started off, such as with the DDR3 to DDR4 transition, where DDR3 officially stopped at 1.6Gbps and DDR4 started from there. However for DDR5 JEDEC is aiming much higher, with the group expecting to launch at 4.8Gbps, some 50% faster than the official 3.2Gbps max speed of DDR4. And in the years afterwards, the current version of the specification allows for data rates up to 6.4Gbps, doubling the official peak of DDR4.

 

The underlying goal, regardless of specific figures, is to double the amount of bandwidth available today from a single DIMM. So don’t be too surprised if SK Hynix indeed hits their goal of DDR5-8400 later this decade.

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The big change here is that, similar to what we’ve seen in other standards like LPDDR4 and GDDR6, a single DIMM is being broken down into 2 channels. Rather than one 64-bit data channel per DIMM, DDR5 will offer two independent 32-bit data channels per DIMM. The net impact for a standard PC desktop then would be that instead of today’s DDR4 paradigm of two DIMMs filling two channels for a 2x64bit setup, a DDR5 system will functionally behave as a 4x32bit setup. Memory will still be installed in dual channel.

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As already widely demonstrated from earlier vendor prototypes, DDR5 will be keeping the same 288 pin count from DDR4. This mirrors the DDR2 to DDR3 transition, where the pin count was kept identical there as well at 240 pins. However, don’t expect to use DDR5 DIMMs in DDR4 sockets,. While the pin count isn’t changing, the pinout is, in order to accommodate DDR5’s new features – and in particular its dual channel design.

My thoughts

Personally, I like the new additions with the new generations. Of course, I don't know how the average consumer will benefit from these higher speeds and memory capacities. Gamers in general will be satisfied with the 4200-4800Mb speed, any higher than that won't make a considerable difference, but then hey, Ryzen.

 

Sources

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15912/ddr5-specification-released-setting-the-stage-for-ddr56400-and-beyond

https://youtu.be/AXEbCwGv00Q

[Spotty]

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