The desktop and laptop PC markets are bracing for the arrival of the DDR5 standard later this year. Companies like ADATA, Team Group and Jiahe Jinwei already announced their upcoming DDR5 modules that should be released in the second half of 2021. Team Group also revealed that the new DDR5 modules can operate at much higher voltages thanks to a new power management system, which is integrated in the modules themselves rather than on the motherboards as it is the case with the DDR4 standard. Thus, voltages can be raised up to 2.6 V from the default 1.1 V, allowing for factory overclocked specs even beyond 8.4 GHz.
China is booming with new PC-related hardware producers these days, as it seeks to reduce reliance on foreign imports. Jiahe Jinwei already got the green light for DDR5 module production earlier this spring and other new producers like Netac are expected to contribute to the domestic DDR 5 module stock soon. Netac first entered the RAM industry in 2018, but the Chinese producer is already trying to set itself apart from the crowd with plans to release DDR5 modules overclocked to 10 GHz. According to ITHome, Netac is investing heavily in R&D to achieve stable 10 GHz DDR5 clocks. In order to further these plans, Netac already received a sizable supply of Micron Z9ZSB DDR5 chips with 2 Gb X 8 capacities and 40-40-40 timings. The 10 GHz modules will most likely be launched in a few years, since the 8.4 GHz modules are expected to launch in 2022.
It is unclear how the DDR5 modules are supposed to benefit from speeds above 8.4 GHz when the timings are already so high. Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs launching in late Q3 this year only support DDR5-4800 by default, and AMD did not even specify the exact DDR5 support for its upcoming Zen 4 processors. Realistically speaking, consumer platform support for higher DDR5 clocks might not even be a priority for Intel and AMD in the next few years.
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