What you need to know about DDR4 memory

Most computer technologies only last a short time before they are replaced by something new, but DDR RAM is one of the few that tends to last a while before being replaced. The original DDR SDRAM was launched in 2000 and lasted three years before being replaced in 2003 by DDR2 SDRAM.

DDR2 lasted another four years before being replaced in 2007 with DDR3 SDRAM. Since then, it has been seven years without a new revision of DDR RAM, but DDR4 has finally been launched to replace DDR3 SDRAM.

What's new in DDR4?

From a physical standpoint, DDR4 is the same width as DDR3, but is slightly taller by about .9mm. The main physical difference between DDR3 and DDR4 is that DDR4 uses 288 pins compared to the 240 pins on DDR3 and the key is in a different location.

In addition, the pins on DDR4 are not in a straight line but slightly curved with the middle sticking out further than the pins on the end.

Though there are ton of changes, the four major improvements of DDR4 SDRAM can be summed up in lower operating voltage, increased power saving enhancements, increased frequency, and improved chip density.

Read more...
 
It looks like crap. Is curvature the new hip thing? (ie. curved OLED TV's)

P.S.: I will try to avoid them both if I can...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
It looks like crap. Is curvature the new hip thing? (ie. curved OLED TV's)

P.S.: I will try to avoid them both if I can...
If you plan on new PC in a year or 2, you might not have a choice as far as DDR4 is concerned and why avoiding anyway ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
It looks like crap. Is curvature the new hip thing? (ie. curved OLED TV's)

P.S.: I will try to avoid them both if I can...
If you plan on new PC in a year or 2, you might not have a choice as far as DDR4 is concerned and why avoiding anyway ?

I already have two working PC's (laptops) that can run all flavors of Windows post 98 version. I might just stock up on one last PC with DDR3 just so I can go into "hibernation" b/c I hate the direction Windows & hardware (and soon kill switch implementation) are going... Hopefully, by the time I really need to replace these PC's, we're at "Windows 14" and DDR6 and no silly hardware killswitch and I might pick up something that I actually like!

Btw, how can anyone have the sense to invest $1k into something that has a kill switch?!?!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
What "Kill switch" ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
What "Kill switch" ?

The consesus is, laptops might soon be mandated to come with a kill switch, just like smart phones...
Isn't that something meant to be used in case of loss or theft ? Nothing like proposed kill switch on cars so cops can stop them.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
What "Kill switch" ?

The consesus is, laptops might soon be mandated to come with a kill switch, just like smart phones...
Isn't that something meant to be used in case of loss or theft ? Nothing like proposed kill switch on cars so cops can stop them.

It's not the loss or theft of laptops that I'm worried about. It's the deliberate/malicious intentional sending out of killswitch codes by unknown parties...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
I'd put possibility of that happening in same percentage with virus, ransom-ware and HW malfunctions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
I guess this will be in my next build. Better to take quantum leaps sometimes. Right now my system is running really well, and I assembled it in March of last year. Obviously we're all well aware that all things being equal, changing just one part (in this case memory) isn't going to yield 25 extra frames per second in a game or cut a video transcoding session in half if all the other components are the same. But of course, this is progress, and it's a good thing in the end.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built/assembled myself
    CPU
    AMD FX-8350 Black Edition
    Motherboard
    ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0
    Memory
    16 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1866
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Windforce
    Sound Card
    On-board audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27" LCD
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB SSD
    Western Digital Caviar Black 2.0 TB SATA-3
    PSU
    Corsair HX850W
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF XM
    Cooling
    Stock
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK520 wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech MK520 wireless
    Internet Speed
    22 Mbps
    Browser
    IE/Chrome/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, Malwarebytes
Back
Top