WINDOWS 8 WORKAROUNDS NEWS

In computing,  “low power” often has an unfortunate double meaning: low power consumption, but also low performance. The economies required to reduce power consumption usually reduce performance is some way. All other thing being equal, we don’t expect a notebook processor to match a desktop processor’s performance.

Next-generation low-power DRAM turns that compromise upside-down. The new LP-DDR4 standard is not only faster than the popular DDR3 standard for desktop memory, but it’s also faster than the latest DDR4 DRAM. Indeed, LP-DDR4 is so fast that it could replace DDR4 in future desktop PCs, although this would require modifying the processors.

What’s happening is further evidence of a trend described last year, when a new image-sensor technology initially targeted smartphones instead of digital cameras. As mobile devices eclipse the sales of traditional platforms, they create more demand for lower-power technology and spur more innovation.

Higher demand usually drives down prices, too. Research firm DRAMeXchange expects more DRAM  to go into smartphones and talblests than into PCs this year. If commodity prices tilt in favor of LP-DDR4 memory, it will likely spread to PCs.

LP-DDR4 uses several tricks to hold power consumption steady while doubling LP-DDR3’s bandwidth. Whereas LP-DDR3 supports 1600 to 2133 million transfers per second, LP-DDR4 support 3200 to 4266MT/sec. Chip bandwidth rises as high as 17GB/sec—twice as fast as LP-DDR3 and three times faster than DDR4. And LP-DDR4 uses about half as much energy per bit as DDR4.

To use LP-DDR4, however, the DRAM controllers in PC processors must change. Today, LP-DDR4 is designed for the multichip packages and stacked chips common in phones and tablets, whereas PC processors connect to external DIMM slots. Also, PCs usually have more DRAM than mobile devices. But production volumes and commodity pricing are powerful forces that could make LP-DDR4 attractive alternative.