Finally! One of the biggest changes with DDR4 was increasing the maximum address space on a DIMM. While 16GB DDR3 DIMMS were available for the server market there were none without ECC or with higher rated speeds. In our R5E review we mentioned that we expected 8GB sticks to become the old 4GB and that 16GB sticks would be the new slower sticks. GSkill are the first to launch 16GB DIMMs with their 8 DIMM 128GB kit rated at 2800 16-16-16-36 @ 1.35V. These sticks use 8Gb Samsung 20nm chips. No word on price, but given that most 64GB kits runs from $600-1200 then we expect this to enter around $1500.
While 128GB is a lot we can be sure that there are some people out there that need it and plenty more that want it. In reality most users can be plenty happy with 16GB of memory for now. For those using specialized tools requiring so much memory it may open up the doors to move away from Xeon’s to overclockable processors instead.
However the more important part of 16GB DIMMs launching is that it also means more memory for motherboards with less slots. mATX X99 boards for example usually only have 4 DIMMs, so once the smaller versions of the kit launch you will be able to get 64GB of RAM on mATX and 32GB on Asrock’s little x99/itx board. This is perfect for workstation users who often need lots of RAM but don’t often need a full ATX board for anything but the extra DIMMS.
Of course with Skylake coming which supports 64GB of DDR4 with 2 channels (i.e. 4 slots) then demand maybe high for these 16GB DIMMs in the future!
