DDR5 RAM will be here in 2018, and be twice as fast as DDR4 says JEDEC

DDR5 will also "improve channel efficiency", claims standards body

DDR5 RAM specifications will be published in 2018, barely four years after DDR4 products hit the streets. That's according to the microelectronics industry standards body JEDEC, the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council, which is leading the design of the specifications.

JEDEC suggests that the DDR5 memory standard will offer "double the bandwidth and density over DDR4" as well as "delivering improved channel efficiency".

Work on the standard, claimed JEDEC in a statement, is "moving forward rapidly" and will appear in 2018. However, while it may take a bit longer for products to appear on the market in volume.

In contrast, for example, the existing DDR4 standard was published in September 2012, with parts only beginning to appear in volume in 2014.

JEDEC also confirmed that work has started on a new memory chip standard.

Following on from SIMM and DIMM, the 'non-volatile' DIMM (NVDIMM-P) standard will apparently able to retain data when electrical power is shut-off due to crashes, shutdowns or sudden, unexpected power losses.

The official JEDEC line on NVDIMM is: "Hybrid DIMM technologies such as JEDEC NVDIMM-P will enable new memory solutions optimised for cost, power usage and performance.

"Adding to the existing NVDIMM-N JEDEC standards, NVDIMM-P will be a new high capacity persistent memory module for computing systems."

Mian Quddus, chariman of the JEDEC board of directors, summarised the new developments by citing demands for improved server performance.

"Increasing server performance requirements are driving the need for more advanced technologies, and the standardisation of next generation memory such as DDR5 and the new generation persistent modules NVDIMM-P, will be essential to fulfilling those needs," said Quddus.

JEDEC will reveal more details on both standards at its Server Forum event in Santa Clara, California on 19 June this year.

The developments in DDR5 memory and NVDIMM-P caps a number of significant advances in PC technology in recent years.

These include the introduction of virtual reality; the shift to 14nm and, soon, 10nm process technologies in semiconductor manufacture; and the release of Ryzen microprocessors by AMD, injecting much-needed competition into the market.

AMD and Nvidia, too, have released new GPU architectures that take advantage of 14nm semiconductor manufacturing, drastically ratcheting up the performance of the latest graphics cards.