CPU makers have noticed that the seemingly unending RAM price hikes are making it tough for many people to upgrade their PCs. Their solution? A return to last-gen DDR4 RAM. Intel and AMD are developing new CPUs that will support the older, more affordable memory type.
On Friday, Gigabyte announced that two of its motherboard lines will support "upcoming" processors built on Intel's LGA 1700 socket. That socket debuted in 2021 with the 12th gen Alder Lake CPUs and supported both DDR4 and the then-new DDR5 RAM. Intel dropped it for a DDR5-only approach in 2024. According to Gigabyte, dual format support is now being revived, with new LGA 1700 chips "expected to launch in early 2027." Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AMD is doing something similar. In August, Gigabyte announced a new series of motherboards for AMD's last-gen, DDR4-compatible AM4 platform, alongside the 10th-anniversary relaunch of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU. DDR4 began hitting the market in 2014 and has since been succeeded by the much faster DDR5.
Under normal circumstances, buying new hardware to use technology that is over a decade old would be a poor investment. But the RAM shortage is changing the math, with DDR4 seemingly feeling the sting of price hikes much less than DDR5. One example: a DDR5 32GB Corsair Vengeance kit costs $620, while the corresponding DDR4 kit costs $260. DDR5 offers higher speeds and better power efficiency, but those perks may not be worth the current price. With prices unlikely to drop anytime soon, holding onto your DDR4 RAM may be the smart move.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing