If
you thought DDR3 was a mature and widespread memory standard for
desktops and notebooks, you’d have thought right, but things are likely
to change as quickly as next year. Micron, one of the top memory chip
manufacturers is suggesting that DDR4, the next major standard in memory
is going to hit the market next year. Desktops and notebooks will be on
the receiving end of the new standard by the end of 2013. Micron has
already announced that they have DDR4 DRAM modules ready already and
implementation can begin in 2013. There are partners and customers
who’ve shown interest and given feedback on the new standard, they say.
Micron expects the initial customers to be those in the enterprise and
micro-server space. The technology should soon spread into the tablets
and ultra-thin client markets. Micron feels that there are a ton of
advantages to using DDR4 over DDR3 when it comes to the performance and
power efficiency side of things. Micron worked alongside Nanya to
develop the new chips that are now based on the 30nm fabrication
process. The new memory is said to operate at a lower voltage of just
1.2V, as compared to the 1.5V required by DDR3 modules. This should help
reduce power consumption on the devices, by quite a bit.
Micron hasn’t started mass producing the chips, just yet, but their
customers and partners have been able to sample the chips over the past
few months. Once JEDEC approves of the new standard, Micron will become
compliant for their 30nm DDR4 technology. Mass production should start
soon after. DDR3, the last major update to PC memory happened back in
2007, when motherboards supporting DDR3 were introduced. It’ll be six
years, since the memory standard has been upgraded. It’s hard to say
when motherboards and chipsets supporting the new technology will be
introduced. Brian Shirley, VP of Micron DRAM said that the technology
was very close to being finalized and that they were working on making
the product JEDEC certified as soon as possible.
