512 K page size for x4 devices: reduces power (less activation power), and extends the usefulness of x4 devices, which allow for more efficient EDC solutions for high-end systems.

DBI: to help reduce power consumption and improve data signal integrity, this feature informs the DRAM as to whether the true or inverted data should be stored.

Nominal and dynamic ODT: Improvements to the ODT protocol and a new Park Mode allow for a nominal termination and dynamic write termination without having to drive the ODT pin.

Differential signaling for the clock and strobes.

New JEDEC POD12 (1.2V) interface standard for DDR4.

Three data width offerings: x4, x8 and x16.

JEDEC, the organization that designs DDR standards lists some technical features of DDR4 on their website: When we can perform such tests, we will run some more numbers. In a couple of small instances one is better than the other, but on those edge cases it might be prudent to say that we cannot make a final decision until we can synchronize the rest of the system, such as the size of CPU caches. Overall, comparing DDR4 to DDR3, there is little difference to separate the two. The DDR4 standard allows for DIMMs of up to 64 GiB in capacity, compared to DDR3's maximum of 16 GiB per DIMM.ĭDR4 is designed for transfer rates of 2.13 to 4.26 GT/s, which is significantly higher than DDR3's transfer rates of 0.8 to 2.13 GT/s.īut this does not always translate to better practical performance, as shown in the following video.ĪnandTech also ran tests comparing DDR3 and DDR4 and concluded that This prevents accidental insertion of the wrong type of memory because they are not backward compatible. The position of the notch on DDR4 memory modules is also different from DDR3 modules. DDR3's 1mm) accommodates more signal layers. They are also different in height and thickness - the increased height of DDR4 modules (31.25mm instead of DDR3's 30.35mm) makes signal routing easier, and the increased thickness (1.2mm vs.

Both DDR3 and DDR4 DIMMs are 5¼ inch (133.35 mm) in length but the pins in DDR4 are spaced closer (0.85mm) than DDR3 (1mm).

Spot the difference: schematic of the physical design of DDR2, DDR3 and DDR4 DIMMs.ĭDR4 is not backward compatible with DDR3 motherboards because the physical design of modules (DIMMs) for DDR4 and DDR3 are different.ĭDR3 modules use 240 pins and DDR4 DIMMs use 288 pins.

Ddr3 vs ddr4 gaming