Adata Also Announces Its DDR4 Overclocking Memory
This is Adata's new DDR4 overclocking memory.
Adata, after launching its premier DDR4 memory, has now announced its XPG Z1 DDR4 memory, which is the company’s overclocking memory. The memory modules are built to be used with the upcoming Haswell-E processors on the X99 platform.
Adata has built the DIMMs with 10-layer PCBs, along with 2oz copper. They also operate at just 1.2 V; DDR4 memory may run between 1.05 V through 1.2 V, which is lower than the 1.5 V through 1.65 V we saw for DDR3. This reduces power consumption, and thus heat output, making it possible to run at higher frequencies. On the units we find large red heatsinks, which will complement some builds, but not all. Hopefully the units will also be available in other colors in the future.
Regarding performance, the modules will be available with frequencies up to 2800 MHz. These modules will have CL17 timings. The cheapest units that will be available will run at 2133 MHz with CL15 timings. A step above that are 2133 MHz modules with CL13 timings, and there are 2400 MHz modules with CL16 timings, too. Each of these will be available in 4 GB or 8 GB DIMMs. Adata has made kits available with either two 4 GB modules, two 8GB modules, four 4 GB modules, or four 8 GB models, so kit capacities range from 8 GB through 32 GB.
Overall, it is clear that DDR4 memory is still young. We’ve seen faster DDR3 memory with lower timings, but that’s okay; as time goes on we’ll see better and better DDR4 memory come along -- when DDR3 came out it also wasn't much better than existing high-end DDR2, so we're not all that surprised. We expect that once DDR4 hits mainstream implementations the real jump will happen.
No word on pricing yet, though we do know that the units will be available soon, likely in time for the Haswell-E release mid-September.
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well DDR4 is getting off to a great start... higher bandwidth (but nothing faster than what can already be found in DDR3 and i doubt the prices will be much better) and crappy timings... (you could probably get ddr3 3000 with lower timings than this)
But not at 1.2V... or even 1.5V.
The chip-making process used to achieve high-density DRAMs is notoriously bad at high-speed stuff (making smaller DRAM cells requires a substrate with higher dielectric constant and lower leakage, which translates into FETs with higher gate capacitance and lower electron mobility, making them slower to switch) and with less voltage swing to help those transistors switch, latencies go up to give them more time to do so.
Higher bandwidth memory with somewhat worse latency is still win-win for IGPs.
Latency in terms of clock cycles is getting worse with every generation and the reason for that is that real latency in terms of actual time in ns is progressing much more slowly than data rates are: DDR1-400-3 is 15ns latency while 2133-10 is 9.4ns.
Net DRAM latency has improved by about 33% over the past decade while bandwidth has quintupled.
well DDR4 is getting off to a great start... higher bandwidth (but nothing faster than what can already be found in DDR3 and i doubt the prices will be much better) and crappy timings... (you could probably get ddr3 3000 with lower timings than this)
The timings are high so that if the laws of physics were to ever change, you will have time to manipulate the electrons by hand in between RAM operations.
The article gives 2133 MHz with CL15 timings. The 2133 with 10 timings that you use to produce 9.4 nanoseconds will be in this case 14.1 for the 2133 with 15 timings. While my good old 1333 at 9 sits at 13.5 and the 1600 at 9 sits at 11.2. In this case, even one of the pricy 1333-7 does better with 10.5. And a 1333-7 has almoust 40% less latency than the 2133-15. As I said, I hope the technology matures. I was super hyped about DDR4 (I am waiting for DDR4 in the mainstream socket to upgrade my 2700K, well maybe ... if it is worth it). But apparently for now the only benefits are higher density and lower voltage. (Which in a typical desktop does not matter. the power reduction is close to small single digit watts). Hope that DDR4 matures by the time Skylake hits and we can get some descently priced 2133-9 kits of 2x8 or so.
You can get 2133-9 DDR3 right now for about the same price as 1600-9 and in 1.5V grade at that. Just get a Skylake board with DDR3 slots instead of DDR4 if timings bother you that much since Skylake is supposed to support both.
High latency DDR4 would make more sense on laptops, tablets and phones where shaving 500mW on memory while bumping bandwidth by 30-50% would be a big deal. Latency does not matter much to GPUs and IGPs.
A DDR4 die on a given process and capacity is practically the same size as a DDR3 die on the same process and capacity... maybe a few microns bigger due to the extra control wires and logic for the internal bank count doubling. Add the packaging around the die and the miniscule size difference vanishes completely. DDR4 does not need to get any smaller to be worth considering in mobile device because the size difference vs DDR3 is effectively nonexistent.
The main problems for mobile is lack of mobile chips that actually support DDR4 and the currently much higher cost of DDR4 DRAM chips: if you check electronic parts distributors like Arrow, you can get DDR3 for ~$5 while DDR4 is ~$20 for a 4Gbits chip... so DDR4 currently carries a 300% price premium on the parts open-market.
Also, a DDR4 advantage is that those speeds are standard speeds. DDR3-2133 is a JEDEC standard, but I think anything higher is an Intel standard. So, starting out at DDR4-2133 MHz isn't too bad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Memory_Cube
Where the heck are you getting your info?
Some tasks like image/video editing and IGPs are better off with more bandwidth while others like parsing/compiling code are more sensitive to latency due to high concentrations of conditional branches and non-linear memory access patterns. Most software is somewhere between those extremes.
DDR4 will be able to beat current memory in all applications after latencies come down to the same 9-10ns current DDR3 can do.