ASUS ROG DDR5 to DDR4 converter card appears to be in development
Intel’s Alder Lake is the first mainstream platform to support DDR5 memory. Many consumers may still be wondering whether to use DDR4 or DDR5 memory if they buy a 12th-generation Core series processor. Unfortunately, it coincides with a severe shortage in the semiconductor industry. At present, the power management IC (PMIC) and voltage regulation module (VRM) required by DRAM manufacturers to produce DDR5 memory have supply problems. As a result, the number of DDR5 memory is limited, and the price has been at a high level, which is expected to continue until the second half of 2022 to ease.
Recently, an ASUS engineer showed a ROG DDR5 to DDR4 converter card in a video sharing development ideas and explained its principle. The test platform uses the ROG MAXIMUS Z690 APEX motherboard. The DDR4 memory signal is transmitted to the motherboard through the DDR5 memory slot and the converter card. However, the size of this converter is quite large, and the wiring connecting DDR4 memory and DIMM slot is very long, which will cause some problems for the operation of high-frequency DDR4 memory.
On the one hand, such a large volume is a prototype product. On the other hand, the converter card needs to provide functions such as PMIC/voltage conversion, and the power supply system needs to be modified to meet the needs of DDR4 memory operation. This prototype conversion card is also equipped with a 4Pin power supply interface to prevent it from being used when the power supply is insufficient. ROG DDR5 to DDR4 converter card can work normally, first of all, the Alder Lake platform natively supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. After using the conversion card, the CPU will directly recognize DDR4 memory instead of inducing the motherboard to recognize DDR4 memory as DDR5 memory.
It is understood that this ROG DDR5 to DDR4 converter card is an experimental product in the early stage of development, and will not appear in the retail market with a high probability.
