Intel is sticking to DDR4 memory in its upcoming Rocket Lake CPUs, just as AMD did with its Zen 3 lineup. However, both companies will eventually adopt DDR5 memory, and when that happens, there will be no shortage of memory manufacturers that will have DDR5 RAM available. And when they do, there will be no shortage of memory makers who will have DDR5 RAM available.

I had never heard of Asgard before, but it is a Chinese memory brand owned by Shenzhen Jiahe Jinwei Electronic Technology Co. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have any connection to Norse mythology or Thor. Oh well.

In any case, according to ITHome (via Tom's Hardware), Asgard plans to produce DDR5 memory in 32GB, 64GB, and even 128GB capacities at speeds up to 4,800 MHz. 128GB capacity will be offered in single modules? It is unclear whether it will be offered in the form of a multi-module kit, but either way, it is a sufficient amount of RAM by today's standards.

Asgard intends to begin volume production of DDR5 modules once the 12th generation Core processors based on Intel's Alder Lake design are introduced with the new 600 series chipsets. Alder Lake is a hybrid design concept similar to Arm's big.LITTLE design, integrating a high-performance core and a smaller, more power-efficient core in a single package.

Alder Lake is not too far off; even though we are still waiting for Rocket Lake to launch (next month), if all goes well, Alder Lake will debut later this year.

AMD is also expected to adopt DDR5 memory in its Zen 4 chips. These too could appear by the end of the year, and if not, they will likely appear in early 2022.

As for the transition to DDR5 RAM, it will at least eventually bring speed gains to the mainstream. The first DDR5 kits appear to run at 4,800 MHz, which is not much faster than the fastest (and most expensive) DDR4 kits available today. However, this is only the starting point for DDR5, which will take the baton from DDR4 and sprint to faster specifications.

DDR5 has advantages beyond speed The advantages of DDR5 go beyond speed. DDR5 has the potential for higher memory overclocking due to its lower voltage consumption, and it also comes standard with ECC support (error correction code). The lack of ECC support in the mainstream DDR4 space was the subject of a recent rant by Linux creator Linus Torvalds. Hang in there Linus, ECC is coming for all of us.

Asgard will cross paths with many of its peers when DDR5 becomes relevant; Micron began sampling DDR5 memory a year ago, and Adata and Team Group have also announced DDR5. The same goes for SK Hynix, which is already mass producing DDR5 memory.