Hardware experts believed the last DRAM would be the current DDR4, but that’s not the case, with DDR5 memory now under development.
Specifications for DDR5 memory will be released this year, and deployment of the DRAM will begin in 2020, according to a slide deck presented at the Intel Developer Forum this week.
DDR5 DRAM will have many benefits: Users will be able to cram more memory into PCs, and applications will run faster. DDR5 memory will be denser than earlier DRAM, and also consume less power, which could extend battery life in laptops.
PCs will need faster and denser memory for applications like virtual reality, and DDR5 will help, said Mike Howard, director of DRAM and memory at research firm IHS.
Right now, VR applications are in their early days, but the bandwidth provided by DDR4 may ultimately not be enough, Howard said.
Servers will be the first hardware to get DDR5 DRAM, and it could reach desktops and laptops 12 to 18 months later.
Hardware experts expected that DDR4 DRAM would ultimately be replaced by new memory technology like PCM (phase-change memory), RRAM (resistive RAM), or MRAM (magnetoresistive RAM), all of which can also store data when a computer is shut off. Those memory types are still in research or early stages of deployment, and could be expensive to make.
It was also expected that DDR4 would last longer because of the continued decline in PC shipments. But PCs are finding a new life in applications like VR, and the renewed interest is partly driving DDR5 DRAM development.
Source: PCWorld - DRAM will live on as DDR5 memory is slated to reach computers in 2020