The latest from Intel has surprised for many reasons, but especially for the support for DDR4 memory when the new DDR5 has been introduced. The only thing different from the jump from other versions is precisely the impossibility of having both types of memory on the same motherboard, giving the user a choice. Today that choice is more crucial than ever, because a number of details have been leaked about the future of both with the new CPUs. Intel Raptor Lake and DDR4.
The roadmap was clear at Intel and motherboard manufacturers have followed it to the letter. The launch of motherboards with DDR4 and the new Z690 chipset is a clear example of what Intel is trying to do against AMD: take share by alleviating the high price of motherboards with the current low price of DDR4, because DDR5 is too expensive for the average user.
But this fact is not going to stay here, since contrary to what you might think Intel is not going to cut the tap with the next architecture, boards and chipsets, which is great news that can tip the balance towards a memory type and other.
Intel to keep DDR4 at Raptor Lake
Raptor Lake will support DDR4.
Some people might say “duh”, but I have seen a conspiracy theory going around that Intel would obsolete DDR4 mobos when Raptor Lake launches. No, they won’t.
Rest easy DDR4 Alder Lake buyers 😊.
– Moore’s Law Is Dead (@mooreslawisdead) November 8, 2021
As it has been leaked, the relevant thing here is that Raptor Lake seems more and more a minor update than a major one as such, which should not surprise us either. Intel has put all the meat on the grill with a single shot and it has come out to ask: it surpasses AMD, forces them to lower prices and generate fewer profits, introduces improvements before its rival and is also the fastest and with a more efficient big.LITTLE architecture.
As we anticipated more than three months ago, the Intel road map goes through a second generation of processors for the LGA1700 socket that by logic should be compatible with the current Z690 boards and future chipsets H670, B660 and H610, which at the same time should be compatible with DDR4 for obvious reasons. Therefore Raptor Lake will have support for DDR4 and DDR5 as well as the new Z790 boards and their substitutes, at least for the moment.
There are rumors without much weight that affirm that with these new CPUs the DDR4 support would be limited to the low and mid-range chipsets, leaving Z790 with DDR5 Only, but take this with a little salt and we will see later, that there is still a long way to go.
Intel’s new CPUs would end up destroying AMD
What we know about Raptor Lake is not much, but this rumor of the DDR4 and DDR5 fits like a glove, since these CPUs are expected for just a year from now to compete with Zen 4. What has been leaked reveals a configuration from 8 + 16 cores as maximum setup for the i9-13900K, giving a total of 24 cores and 32 threads with 36 MB of L3 and 32 EU in its iGPU, which would complicate things enormously for AMD until the departure of Zen 4 and the Ryzen 7000s.
The funny thing about this is that Intel would have ready, apparently, its node 7+ which could mean that in addition to doubling the number of Gracemont Cores there could also be an increase in frequency, probably minimal, but that would keep current consumption the same. In addition, that configuration of 24 cores with 32 threads would reach from the desktop sector to laptops with three different TDP: 125 watts, 65 watts and 35 watts, so we could only be talking about the same die at different frequencies.
