There are so many factors to deal with that it is really difficult to get something clear, so what we will do is put them all on the table, reflections and thoughts included, so that each one has an opinion according to their criteria. And this is not one of those articles where nothing is revealed or confirmed or denied, it is one of those that present a scenario and possibilities. What will happen to Intel Alder Lake-S?
What is the problem and why would DDR5 affect Intel Alder Lake?
Everything revolves as a result of two different pieces of information. The first part of Richard Swinburne that affirms something that we sensed from the writing: there is an extreme shortage of integrated circuits for DDR5, since the supply of these is very unstable.
Only 24 hours ago in a presentation talk with Kingston, a server asked the company about its plans with DDR5 and its sales forecasts, well, the answer I got was surprising to say the least.
Extreme shortage of DDR5 ICs may dampen Alderlake launch. I’m told the supply is “very unstable”.
– Richard Swinburne (@ricswi) September 28, 2021
And the company was waiting for Intel to move to its new platform and thus see the reception of DDR5 in the market.
That is to say, a large company like Kingston is not at all clear about the plans with DDR5 and with this, what Richard said makes sense, since perhaps the volume of integrated circuits is so low or non-existent that the prices may not currently compensate.
If this theory is valid, what we are going to see will be a few models of DDR5 modules that could be exhausted in days or weeks, leaving high-end motherboards without support.
The platform, compatibility and scarcity
Assuming the shortage is as stated, manufacturers have released a number of motherboard products that do not support DDR4. We discussed it just a week ago, and that is that most boards only integrate compatibility with DDR5, with some models being compatible with DDR4 and the latter at the same time.
Alder Lake-S as an architecture integrates a memory controller or dual IMC, capable of supporting both types of memory, so the roof is on the side of the board and memory manufacturers. Is Intel having complaints about these due to the nil supply and the predictable low sales that are expected due to the shortage?
Well, it already happened at the time with Pentium 4 and RDRAM, perhaps this time Intel wants to cure itself in health and by not giving an official public date, it can rectify and postpone the launch. There is also the possibility that the situation is simply not so serious and the launch occurs on November 4, the stock lasts as long as it lasts and the manufacturers exhaust the circuits by launching everything that is produced on the market with a surcharge that would make them win. money and everyone happy.
Cabal and more cabal, it is true, but we do not have more first-hand information to contribute for now, so we have to wait and be attentive to the movements, because if Intel launches a platform where there is no stock of its new RAM … The fiasco could produce an adverse effect and lead the user to purchase an AMD platform. Real situation, fake or taken out of context? Time will tell if we are on the way and if the stock will be sufficient.
