Intel 12th Gen CPUs, Z690 and DDR5 Preview

DDR5 is Here!

There are a few new technologies launching on the new Z690 platform and 12th Gen CPUs. However, one of the biggest is the introduction of DDR5 memory. We’ve had DDR4 for a very long time now, and with it being at the end of its development now, manufacturers have gotten pretty great at getting the best out of it. However, that’s something that is yet to happen with DDR5.

While you can expect massive improvements in the overall speed and bandwidth right out of the gate, things like latency and timings aren’t as attractive as some high-end DDR4 modules are. However, we saw similar things in the transition of DDR3 to DDR4. So while there are benefits to upgrading for memory-intensive applications, many gamers may be just fine with some of the DDR4 Z690 motherboards that are hitting the market. Not only because the performance is still more than sufficient for most of us, but you can save a small fortune by reusing your current RAM.

That being said, if you do upgrade, you can reap some benefits. The first is higher speeds, with some mid-range kits coming in at 5200MHz+ without breaking a sweat. Some brands are saying they’ll be creating kits of around 8400 MHz soon enough too. Of course, with further development of the technologies, a few BIOS updates and tweaks, we expect that to go even higher. It just takes time for the market, overclockers, and manufacturers to get things worked out in the real world. Furthermore, we expect to see larger capacity DIMMS in the future too, with 128GB sticks being hinted at in the coming years.

It’s not going to be a cheap upgrade though, as with all new cutting edge technologies, it’ll have a premium price attached to it. Unfortunately, I can’t confirm the prices just now, but between getting a new CPU, new motherboard and new RAM, the bill will add up alarmingly fast.