• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

ASUS is Working on a DDR4 RAM Adapter for DDR5 Motherboards

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,601 (2.41/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
With the current short supply and maybe more importantly, the rather insane pricing for DDR5 memory, ASUS is working on what could be called a quick fix for the problem, an adapter that would allow DDR5 motherboard owners to put DDR4 memory in their motherboards. It's not what we'd call an elegant solution at this point, but it's said it'll be refined before it's ready for retail—if it ever enters the market—since apparently the engineer that developed the adapter doesn't always get to see his projects hit retail, as from our understanding he's responsible for a lot of the more unusual products from ASUS' ROG brand.

That said, considering that a lot of high-end Z690 motherboards only support DDR5, this might be an interim solution that makes sense for a lot of people until availability of DDR5 improves. There's some complexity in making the adapter work though, as not only does it need its own power regulation, since DDR4 memory doesn't have onboard power conversion components unlike DDR5, but there's also the 2x 32-bit vs 64-bit bus to take into consideration as well. On top of this, the DRAM traces are obviously extended, which could lead to instabilities, which is why it's apparently only tested with one type of memory right now, which appears to be G-Skill's Tridentz Royal. A further limitation of the adapter is that it requires a special UEFI version to be installed that allows DDR4 memory to be used, but this might be the smallest issue in this "skunk works" project from ASUS' ROG team.





View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Jun 16, 2013
Messages
1,457 (0.35/day)
Location
Australia
So the DDR5 shortage has made an Asus engineer resort to this eh?
Wow, that says a lot about global supply chain issues with latest PC tech.
I'll bet Intel are angry about that.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2019
Messages
570 (0.30/day)
I’d be all for a series of articles about other nerdiness that may or may not have come to market by this engineer and other irregulars like him
 
Joined
Dec 5, 2020
Messages
203 (0.14/day)
So the DDR5 shortage has made an Asus engineer resort to this eh?
Wow, that says a lot about global supply chain issues with latest PC tech.
I'll bet Intel are angry about that.
Why? All of their current CPU supports DDR4. The moment I saw leaks from Rapor Lake supporting DDR4 I knew the DDR5 situation was terrible and was going to be terrible for quite some time.
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,601 (2.41/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
I’d be all for a series of articles about other nerdiness that may or may not have come to market by this engineer and other irregulars like him
Sadly my mandarin isn't anywhere near that level of comprehension.
I'd suggest you check out his YouTube channel.
 
Joined
Jun 16, 2013
Messages
1,457 (0.35/day)
Location
Australia
Why? All of their current CPU supports DDR4. The moment I saw leaks from Rapor Lake supporting DDR4 I knew the DDR5 situation was terrible and was going to be terrible for quite some time.
It discourages consumers from investing in DDR5 platform & they were the first company to market that tech.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
7,256 (1.03/day)
Location
Stuck somewhere in the 80's Jpop era....
System Name Lynni PS \ Lenowo TwinkPad L14 G2
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Raphael (Waiting on 9800X3D) \ i5-1135G7 Tiger Lake-U
Motherboard ASRock B650M PG Riptide Bios v. 3.10 AMD AGESA 1.2.0.2a \ Lenowo BDPLANAR Bios 1.68
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax.Black (Only middle fan) \ Lenowo C-267C-2
Memory G.Skill Flare X5 2x16GB DDR5 6000MHZ CL36-36-36-96 AMD EXPO \ Willk Elektronik 2x16GB 2666MHZ CL17
Video Card(s) Asus GeForce RTX™ 4070 Dual OC (Waiting on RX 8800 XT) | Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
Storage Gigabyte M30 1TB|Sabrent Rocket 2TB| HDD: 10TB|1TB \ WD RED SN700 1TB
Display(s) KTC M27T20S 1440p@165Hz | LG 48CX OLED 4K HDR | Innolux 14" 1080p
Case Asus Prime AP201 White Mesh | Lenowo L14 G2 chassis
Audio Device(s) Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless
Power Supply Be Quiet! Pure Power 12 M 750W Goldie | 65W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeedy Wireless | Lenowo TouchPad & Logitech G305
Keyboard Ducky One 3 Daybreak Fullsize | L14 G2 UK Lumi
Software Win11 IoT Enterprise 24H2 UK | Win11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 24H2 UK / Arch (Fan)
Benchmark Scores 3DMARK: https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/89434432? GPU-Z: https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details/v3zbr
Is this a joke? Because I was wondering why not DDR4 in a DDR5 mobo?

Because a lot of people have DDR4 now a days.
 

Accelerator

New Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2020
Messages
7 (0.00/day)
Totally meaningless. If you must use DDR4 memory, just by a DDR4 motherboard. Why spending extra money to buy this?
 
Joined
Jan 27, 2015
Messages
1,065 (0.30/day)
System Name loon v4.0
Processor i7-11700K
Motherboard asus Z590TUF+wifi
Cooling Custom Loop
Memory ballistix 3600 cl16
Video Card(s) eVga 3060 xc
Storage WD sn570 1tb(nvme) SanDisk ultra 2tb(sata)
Display(s) cheap 1080&4K 60hz
Case Roswell Stryker
Power Supply eVGA supernova 750 G6
Mouse eats cheese
Keyboard warrior!
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/spy/21765182 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1114767
It discourages consumers from investing in . . . .
an air cooler!
D2.png


j/k . .sorta. :p
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,601 (2.41/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
Is this a joke? Because I was wondering why not DDR4 in a DDR5 mobo?

Because a lot of people have DDR4 now a days.
No joke, it seems to be something they're at least considering, but it seems to depend on how easy it is to commercialise it in the end and at what cost.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Messages
6,061 (2.89/day)
Location
Poland
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
Cooling Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
Memory 2x16 GB Crucial Ballistix 3600 CL16 Rev E @ 3800 CL16
Video Card(s) RTX3080 Ti FE
Storage SX8200 Pro 1 TB, Plextor M6Pro 256 GB, WD Blue 2TB
Display(s) LG 34GN850P-B
Case SilverStone Primera PM01 RGB
Audio Device(s) SoundBlaster G6 | Fidelio X2 | Sennheiser 6XX
Power Supply SeaSonic Focus Plus Gold 750W
Mouse Endgame Gear XM1R
Keyboard Wooting Two HE
Anyone remembers SDR/DDR combo boards from back in the day?
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,601 (2.41/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
Anyone remembers SDR/DDR combo boards from back in the day?
There have been those types of boards for almost every transition except this one, as apparently Intel didn't allow the board makers to make such a board, according to Anandtech.
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2020
Messages
1,753 (1.03/day)
They should introduce more DDR4 boards as oppose to making and selling this adapter. The adapter likely won't come cheap from the looks of it. So if buying the adapter plus a good DDR4 kit cost as much as DDR5, it makes sense to just get DDR5 instead. The height of the adapter + DDR4 DIMM is too high, and most air coolers won't be able to fit.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
14,086 (3.82/day)
Location
Sunshine Coast
System Name H7 Flow 2024
Processor AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling Custom liquid
Memory 32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s) Intel ARC A750
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s) AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse Lenovo
Keyboard Eweadn Mechanical
Software W11 Pro 64 bit
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
3,877 (0.89/day)
System Name Skunkworks 3.0
Processor 5800x3d
Motherboard x570 unify
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory 32GB 3600 mhz
Video Card(s) asrock 6800xt challenger D
Storage Sabarent rocket 4.0 2TB, MX 500 2TB
Display(s) Asus 1440p144 27"
Case Old arse cooler master 932
Power Supply Corsair 1200w platinum
Mouse *squeak*
Keyboard Some old office thing
Software Manjaro
Reminds me of those old socket 370-slot 1 adapters from the late 90s.
There have been those types of boards for almost every transition except this one, as apparently Intel didn't allow the board makers to make such a board, according to Anandtech.
Which is just insane. Why would you ban people from making combo boards for a transitionary generation? How hard does intel want alder lake to not appeal to people?
 

TheLostSwede

News Editor
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
17,601 (2.41/day)
Location
Sweden
System Name Overlord Mk MLI
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 SE with offsets
Memory 32GB Team T-Create Expert DDR5 6000 MHz @ CL30-34-34-68
Video Card(s) Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 Phantom GS
Storage 1TB Solidigm P44 Pro, 2 TB Corsair MP600 Pro, 2TB Kingston KC3000
Display(s) Acer XV272K LVbmiipruzx 4K@160Hz
Case Fractal Design Torrent Compact
Audio Device(s) Corsair Virtuoso SE
Power Supply be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Corsair K70 Max
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/yfsd9w
They should introduce more DDR4 boards as oppose to making and selling this adapter. The adapter likely won't come cheap from the looks of it. So if buying the adapter plus a good DDR4 kit cost as much as DDR5, it makes sense to just get DDR5 instead. The height of the adapter + DDR4 DIMM is too high, and most air coolers won't be able to fit.
This is not the final design, as mentioned in the news post.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
1,845 (1.32/day)
Location
Alaska USA
I don't see a downside to this. Gives buyers more choices and that's a good thing especially seeing how it's going to be awhile before DDR5 becomes mainstream.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
454 (0.11/day)
Location
Existence
System Name Workstation
Processor Ryzen 9 5950x
Motherboard Msi B550-A pro
Cooling Artic Cooling 360mm
Memory 64 GB DDR4 3200Mhz
Video Card(s) Amd Radeon pro w5500
Storage WD SN 850X 2 TB m2 + Seagate Exos 4 tb + WD 2tb Gold
Display(s) LG UltraGear 32GP850-B
Case Lian Li 011 DX
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamics DT 770 pro + Logitech Z 623
Power Supply CM V1300
Mouse Razer Basilisk
Keyboard Gskill Ripjaws KM 780 MX
Software W 11 pro 64
Benchmark Scores It works.
Regarding this is an asus article, I guess intel does not have the intel to overtake the ryzen factor.
A few more months and we shall see some improvements.
 
Joined
May 12, 2017
Messages
2,207 (0.80/day)
I wonder how it's going to work. One would think next gen processors will support DDR 5 only, so I take it, it has DDR4/5 controller built-in just like the good old Phenom Processors which supported DDR2/3.
 
Joined
Oct 16, 2018
Messages
966 (0.43/day)
Location
Uttar Pradesh, India
Processor AMD R7 1700X @ 4100Mhz
Motherboard MSI B450M MORTAR MAX (MS-7B89)
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Memory Crucial Technology 16GB DR (DDR4-3600) - C9BLM:045M:E BL16G36C16U4W.M16FE1 X2 @ CL14
Video Card(s) XFX RX480 GTR 8GB @ 1408Mhz (AMD Auto OC)
Storage Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB
Display(s) Acer KG271 1080p @ 81Hz
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex II 750W 80+ Gold
Keyboard Redragon Devarajas RGB
Software Microsoft Windows 10 (10.0) Professional 64-bit
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/mvvj3a
I don't see why board don't come with two slots for DDR4 and 2 slots for DDR5.
Basically if you using DDR4 then the DDR5 slot get disable and vice versa.

Then you would not have to make separate DDR4 and DDR5 versions of the same board.
 
Joined
Feb 15, 2019
Messages
1,658 (0.79/day)
System Name Personal Gaming Rig
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E Carbon
Cooling MO-RA 3 420
Memory 32GB 6000MHz
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 ICHILL FROSTBITE ULTRA
Storage 4x 2TB Nvme
Display(s) Samsung G8 OLED
Case Silverstone FT04
Maybe ASUS just wanna cut all the future Intel DDR4 MB models to save all the R&D cost, then offer this kit inside the box and claim "We support both D4 & D5 in one board!"
 
Joined
Jan 27, 2015
Messages
1,065 (0.30/day)
System Name loon v4.0
Processor i7-11700K
Motherboard asus Z590TUF+wifi
Cooling Custom Loop
Memory ballistix 3600 cl16
Video Card(s) eVga 3060 xc
Storage WD sn570 1tb(nvme) SanDisk ultra 2tb(sata)
Display(s) cheap 1080&4K 60hz
Case Roswell Stryker
Power Supply eVGA supernova 750 G6
Mouse eats cheese
Keyboard warrior!
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/spy/21765182 https://www.3dmark.com/pr/1114767
This is not the final design, as mentioned in the news post.
fwiw the auto translate captions to english worked well enough.


guy has some crazy good stuff on his channel.
 
Joined
May 7, 2020
Messages
261 (0.16/day)
Don't know the specific of this, but there are two issue that I can immediately imagine:
1. latency! Longer wire = more latency = less FPS = bad.
2. This thing need voltage converter, and they are, too, in short supply.

Either way, it isn't optimize yet, maybe there are other things that can be done on UEFI to compensate.
 

ixi

Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
1,451 (0.39/day)
Is this a joke? Because I was wondering why not DDR4 in a DDR5 mobo?

Because a lot of people have DDR4 now a days.

A lot of people back in days had ddr3 not ddr4, same situation. After 1 year prices will go down.
 
Top