Are DDR4 Slots in motherboards reverse-compatible with DDR3?

Crazymb · Sep 12, 2014

The reason I am asking is because I'm building a computer soon and want some kind of "future-proof" where the motherboard supports new things like DDR4, however, DDR4 right now is expensive as hell, so I was thinking buying DDR3 memory and later on upgrade to DDR4

USAFRet · Sep 12, 2014

No. Different slots.

ubercake · Sep 12, 2014

I think it's strange that we've been using DDR5 memory on our GPU solutions for years and we use DDR4 on the X99 motherboard. I wonder if it will be less expensive when everything moves to DDR5?

Cons29 · Sep 12, 2014

i think there will be boards that will support both (just like when everyone is going for ddr3), there are boards that supports both ddr2 and ddr3.
however, those boards, are usually cheap ones, not that good

memcme · Oct 3, 2014

ubercake :

We have been using ddr3 ram not ddr5, I think you must mean gddr5 which is what all modern video cards use now and also the ps4, its not the same thing as normal ddr ram.

ubercake · Oct 3, 2014

ubercake :

That's exactly what I meant. If DDR5 is universally used (on motherboards and GPUs), it will be a cheaper option because RAM manufacturers will be producing more of the same thing; a single type of RAM for both systems and GPUs.

donchoko · Oct 9, 2014

ubercake :

GDDR and DDR are different things. GDDR5 is SGRAM or ram for graphics, used on GPUs and other side you have DDR4 and DDR3 that is SDRAM or the ram that you use on your computer. I think a simple google search on GDDR5 would give more answers and details.

Ryan Viets · Dec 2, 2014

ubercake :

nothing strange about it. we're the the cattle as consumers and we are getting milked... ddr5 would be 1/3 the price cheaper materials easier to make and faster.... but nope we gotta pay for a few more years through the teeth before they bestow upon us the greatness of ddr5 on desktops. by that time their will be a new type of ram and ddr5 will be obsolete. it is the prerogative of big business to control their cycles and maximize their profits on the full life of their products. even when new technology emerges they join together to get the maximum revenue off their previous model before they gut you again with the new stuff... some day i pray business will change but it appears resistance futile and if you want innovation you have to make things yourself.

Tallima · Dec 10, 2014

Crazymb :

Read here:
http://www.techpowerup.com/205231/how-intel-plans-to-transition-between-ddr3-and-ddr4-for-the-mainstream.html

Looks like a DDR3/4 MOBO will be getting made in the near future. It will be called UniDIMM. And it will be for Intel's Skylake processors.

kueda1 · Jan 27, 2015

ubercake :

it sais gddr5 but that means ddr3

kueda1 · Jan 27, 2015

gddr5 is an upgrade of ddr3 with more bandwidth that's all it not actually ddr5

Miclink · Jan 28, 2015

it sais gddr5 but that means ddr3 :na:

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Morphine_OD · Jan 29, 2015

ubercake :

GPUs use GDDR5, DDR5 is non-existent.

George Khatiashvili · Feb 24, 2015

ubercake :

There is no ddr5 in graphic cards. gddr3 and gddr5 both are ddr3

Crumbz McChip · Apr 30, 2015

ubercake :

DDR5 is actually a variant of DDR3 in that it uses the same slot but can fill and empty its available RAM storage about 10% faster then DDR3 RAM. So not much difference. As to why they didn't call it DDR4 instead of DDR5 falls to the same place as why Microsoft went from Windows 8 to Windows 10.

DDR4 is significantly faster then both DDR3 and DDR5 combined. And is available in much larger sizes then DDR3/DDR5

And also to clarify, yes DDR5 does not technically exist outside of Graphics Cards, however just because is called GDDR5 dosent mean its not DDR5. DDR5 is STILL a type of volatile memory (RAM) that is designed to empty stored information when the power is cut.

The "G" in GDDR5 is just there to specify that the DDR5 memory in the Graphics Card has been specifically designed for use in a Graphics Card. Which is why GDDR3 exists, because it is the Graphics Optimized variant of DDR3.

jackbtroop62 · May 30, 2015

ubercake :

DDR3 Ram has no limiting capabilities for any regular consumer (provided your have enough of it). The introduction of DDR4 ram on the X99 motherboards will make a very limited difference over DDR3 ram on desktops since the main selling point of DDR4 is less power consumption. So moving to DDR5 would serve no benefit performance wise, not sure about the cost however.

SteelCity1981 · Oct 10, 2015

I know this is an old post but the only motherboards that will support both DDR3 and DDR4 in the same slot are motherboards that are equipped with UniDiMM slots which are only available on intel skylake based laptops, but even those have their limits on what DDR3 it can support which is only LDDR3 1600 or DDR4 2133.

Are DDR4 Slots in motherboards reverse-compatible with DDR3?

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