Intel and AMD revive DDR4 RAM support in response to ongoing memory shortages
In response to a prolonged global shortage causing significant price increases for DDR5 RAM, Intel and AMD are reintroducing CPUs that support the older DDR4 standard. This move is aimed at giving consumers more affordable upgrade options without requiring them to purchase expensive new memory modules. Gigabyte recently announced motherboard lines compatible with upcoming LGA 1700 processors from Intel, which originally supported both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM but were later phased out for a DDR5-only strategy. The return of dual support is expected in early 2027. AMD has also joined the trend by relaunching motherboards for its AM4 platform to work with new CPUs compatible with DDR4. DDR4, introduced in 2014 and now over a decade old, remains significantly cheaper than DDR5 despite being slower and less power-efficient. For example, a 32GB DDR5 RAM kit costs around $620 compared to just $260 for an equivalent DDR4 version.
