While DDR4 memory won't be available to consumers anytime soon, development on the standard and matching hardware has almost been completed.Samsung was one of the first to produce a DDR4 module, in December 2010. Back then it was a 2 GB module, based on 30nm memory chips.
Since then, the technology has developed quite a bit, as the first 8 GB and 16 GB modules have been produced. The memory is of the RDIMM type and is designed for use in professional servers.
Samsung cooperates with processor manufacturers and system builders, who can use the DDR4 memory to increase the performance at a lower power consumption. Samsung wants to transition to 20nm memory chips, which - compliant to the DDR4 specifications - require a 1.2V voltage. This would make the modules up to 40 percent more efficient than the latest low-voltage DDR3 modules at 1.35V. The new DDR4 standard isn't just more energy efficient, but should also allow for increased performance and a more efficient data processing.
Samsung will continue to develop the DDR4 technology, to ensure JEDEC compliance. It's expected that the DDR4 standard will be finalized in August. If that is the case, it would take at least up until next year for mass production of DDR4 to start. By the time that 20nm memory chips can be used, the capacity of a single RDIMM module may have well been doubled to 32 GB.
The first processors with a DDR4 controller have yet to be revealed. The latest reports state that Intel's regular 'Haswell' chip is based on DDR3 memory, while the high-end Haswell-EP platform will use the new standard. It's expected that it will take a while for AMD to adopt DDR4.
Samsung has played a leading role in the development of new memory standards. In 2001, it first showed DDR2 memory, which was followed up by DDR3 in 2005. In both cases, the manufacturer revealed their modules long before the standards were implemented.
Source: Hardware.info
