Let’s Compare DDR3 and DDR4 RAM
Most of us have been using DDR3 RAM for years. It has been the gold standard for the PC enthusiast. If you have been paying attention, DDR4 RAM is now on the scene. One would assume that DDR4 is better but is it? Does it cost more? Is it faster in real world applications? What are the technical differences? Let’s Compare DDR3 and DDR4 RAM.
DDR3 vs DDR4 Cost Comparison
DDR4 Ram has been out a while now and as you can see, by doing a little shopping and a quick comparison, you will note that there is litte difference is the price of the Ram.
You will note that there is a “Memory Clock Speed” difference in these two examples but ignoring that difference, the prices are comparable.
DDR3 vs DDR4 Speed Comparison
Thanks to Corsair, the following charts answer this question visually. First let’s look at memory bandwidth:
You can see that Ram read/write bandwidth is almost identical when comparing Ram with the same clock speed.
How about latency? You will note in the chart above, Ram latency is slightly better or lower with DDR3 Ram.
As shown below, unless you’re running the fastest DDR3-2133 RAM, DDR4 is going to be consistently faster simply due to the memory clock speed as shown in the two charts below.
While the speed gain is minimal, you will see some modest improvement in performance. Just keep in mind the performance improvement due to the RAM is in large part due to the memory clock speed.
DDR3 vs DDR4 Technical Comparison
First let’s look at a quick comparison of the Haswell-E and Skylake processors
Skylake makes a number of improvements over Haswell when used with CPU intensive applications. The chart below provides a quick reference of some of the differences.
| Haswell i5/i7 | Skylake-S i5/i7 | |
| Socket: | 1150 | 1151 |
| Manufacturing Process: | 22nm | 14nm |
| Cores: | 4 | 4 |
| Hyperthreading: | i7 only | i7 only |
| Smart Cache: | 6MB (i5) 8MB (i7) |
6MB (i5) 8MB (i7) |
| Bus Type: | DMI 2.0 (5GT/s) | DMI 3.0 (8GT/s) |
| Integrated Graphics: | HD Graphics 4600 | HD Graphics 530 |
| TDP: | (Standard i5/i7) (K-series i5/i7) |
(Standard i5/i7) (K-series i5/i7) |
| Memory Type: | DDR3/DDR3L | DDR4 / DDR3L |
Second what are the primary differences between DDR3 and DDR4 Ram?
The big difference between DDR3 and DDR4 is the availability of higher memory clock speed with DDR4 modules. DDR3 specifications range from 800 MHz to 2133MHz. DDR4 Ram memory clock speed begins at 2133 MHz, and increases from there. Today you can easily find DDR Ram with a 4000MHz clock speed if you are willing to pay the difference. Theoretically, DDR4 does not appear to have a ceiling on its clock speed. Undoubtedly you will see faster DDR4 Ram down the road.
DDR4 operates at a lower voltage than DDR3. DDR4 runs at 1.2 volts vs the 1.5 volts for the DDR3. While this does not seem like much, and isn’t for the home user this difference can add up in a large-scale commercial application. Higher transfer rates can be achieved in DDR4 at lower voltages, which also translates to improved system stability and reliability.
The other advantage is in the maximum limit of DDR4 Ram that can be used on the motherboard.
DDR4 memory is built with the Intel Skylake processors and the higher memory clock capability in mind. For this reason, DDR4 memory should be your clear choice for a system that supports it, especially if the processor on the motherboard uses the Skylake processor. However, don’t expect to see any significant system speed improvements due to your choice of Ram. To speed up your system, opt for a faster CPU, more memory or a fast SSD drive such as the ultra-fast NVMe SSD M.2 modules such as the Samsung 950 PRO Series 512GB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD!