A fresh look at the state of DDR4 in 2018
W
e often describe the PC as
having its own ecosystem,
almost as though it’s some form
of living entity, and the
symbiotic relationship between
each component is almost a perfect example of
Aristotle’s (oft misparaphrased) saying: “The whole
is more than the sum of its parts.” Admittedly, the
Greek philosophical genius was likely referring to
metaphysics and ideologies, rather than the
modern-day abacus, yet in our eyes the saying is
more apt here than anywhere else.
After all, you only have to take one core component
out of the typical system’s arsenal, and you render the
machine incapable of function. Whether that’s
processor, motherboard, or memory, the crux of the
matter is that this holy trinity of hardware combines
to create a perfect amalgamation of machine-based
interfacing – yet, isolated, the components themselves
hold far less value. And not only does this metaphor
suit the PC itself, but it also extends to the PC
marketplace. With the prices of both memory and
GPUs skyrocketing, inevitably those generational
spikes in performance we’ve been seeing across the
computing industry over the last 10 years are going to
evaporate – because the price of memory has nearly
tripled, new platform adopters are forced to go for
lower-spec parts.
This has a knock-on effect across game
development, video production, CGI... Hell, even us
tech journos are going to feel the bite. Whether it’s
mining, supply issues, or a bit of both, the ecosystem is
suffering, and there’s not a lot we can do to change
that, but understanding how memory works, and what
you should be spending your cash on, as far as
memory is concerned, is now more pivotal than ever.
So, it’s time for us to bust out the magnifying glass,
and shine a light on the volatile world of memory.Feature
MEMORY MATTERS