After the Chinese government started investigating DRAM price fixing in 2018, DDR4 RAM prices have been drastically reduced. These prices may fall as much as 30% by the end of 2019 and possibly set the prices for the upcoming DDR5 memory. RAM prices peaked mid-2018 just before the Chinese government became suspicious of price trends and started investigating memory suppliers. By the end of 2018, DDR4 module prices were slowly coming down and are expected to be reduced 30% by Q2 of 2019.
SK Hynix was one of the first chip makers to announce its production and specs on its DDR5 module back in November of 2018. The 16GB DDR5 SDRAM module will operate at 1.1V and offer 6.4Gb/s throughput. The top speed DDR4 could achieve was 4600MHz, DDR5 will be clocked at 5200MHz, however SK Hynix has not revealed if this will be the top end speed, mid-range, or even the lowest.
Samsung has also showed off its offering of DDR5 that operates at 1.05V and speeds of up to 7.5Gb/s. This makes Samsung’s module more efficient and more powerful simultaneously than SK Hynix.
The first memory modules will most likely be enterprise targeted as they will be more costly, so we expect to see enterprise hardware to support DDR5. DDR5 memory is expected to be higher capacity like 8GB, 16 GB, 32GB and 64GB modules. Mass production of DDR5 RAM is expected to begin in 2020 and could gain 25% of the DRAM market by 2021 and 44% by 2022. Manufacturers such as SK Hynix and Samsung will be among the first to hit the market with DDR5 memory in Q4 2019.
AMD’s Ryzen processors benefit from high speed memory and the next generation DDR5 specification will bring more performance at the same speeds. As mentioned above, DDR5 will have reduced power consumption over the previous generation which great for over system power usage on AMD PC’s. AMD has been working to reduce power consumption their CPU’s as well as their GPU’s. PC’s built using significant amounts of RAM – DDR5 standard and AMD components are sure to be the most efficient performers.
The transfer rate for expected for DDR5 is 32GB/s at 1.1v, compared to 25.6GB/s on DDR4 at 1.2v. DDR5 will have 380 pins just like its predecessor but it’s not likely to be backwards compatible.
DDR5 will have double the density of DDR4, and with capacities such as 64GB, the memory standard will also change. Your probably wondering, should I buy 32 GB, 64 GB, or even 128 GB RAM? Who needs 128GB of RAM? Does 64GB of RAM make sense? Not likely for an average user, however, it will be exciting to see more computers with the option to work with 32GB of RAM unlike current PC’s where 16GB of RAM is considered a top tier. Programs are using RAM as fast storage creating a demand for having larger capacities to run everything smoothly.
Excited for when we will get to experience DDR6, DDR7, and DDR8 RAM! We can’t wait! Stay tuned.
Edit (4/4/2020):
SK Hynix has unveiled DDR5 memory with speeds up to 8400MHz and 64GB densities. DDR5 memory will revolutionize 5G, AI, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and cloud systems.
AMD and Intels’ latest generation enterprise chips are confirmed to support DDR5 memory. The enterprise market will able to utilize higher memory capacities and power efficiency.
DDR5 memory is expected to start showing up late 2020 and the rest of the market 2021.