Pressure from Intel may convince motherboard manufacturers to only support DDR5 RAM in their upcoming 700-series boards. The decision would increase the price of some next-gen PC builds, at least for 700-series buyers who would prefer to reuse or purchase cheaper DDR4 modules.

As reported by TechPowerUp, Intel wants to coordinate a big push for DDR5 with the release of its 13th generation Raptor Lake CPUs. These CPUs are expected to launch alongside 700-series motherboards in late 2022, so it’s a good opportunity to accelerate DDR5 adoption, which has been a lot more sluggish than expected. (Intel didn’t push DDR5 in 2021, as the new RAM wasn’t available when 12th gen Intel Core CPUs launched.)

It’s an odd situation, as Raptor Lake CPUs supposedly offer both DDR4 and DDR5 support. Those who stick one of the new chips in a 600-series motherboard can use older RAM modules, but if this rumor pans out, next-gen motherboards will require next-gen RAM.

Regardless of what happens in the future, DDR5 adoption makes sense. The next-gen memory is twice the speed of DDR4 and runs at just 1.1 volts. Still, it’s frustrating to know that some people will be forced to buy new, expensive memory sticks.

Source: TechPowerUp