Back in 2021, when Intel released its 12th Gen Alder Lake-S desktop CPUs, the company provided the choice of DDR4 and DDR5 as the new 5th generation DDR memory standard was pretty expensive. Hence when a DDR4 version of the motherboard would work with DDR4 kit and the DDR5 variant would work with DDR5.
In an article, we explained the differences, advantages and disadvantages of going either way. One of the advantages of DDR4 we highlighted was its reusability as users who were running high-end DDR4 kits could re-use the same when upgrading to LGA1700 sockets for their 12th/13th Gen Intel systems.
However, that advantage may not last for very long as a new report alleges that Intel"s motherboard vendor partner MSI is planning to gradually phase out at least some of the Z790 and B760 DDR4 variants according to some Chinese sources. The affected motherboard models:
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MPG Z790 EDGE WIFI DDR4
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PRO Z790-A WIFI DDR4
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PRO Z790-P DDR4
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MAG B760 MORTAR DDR4
As a manufacturer of Intel boards, it perhaps makes sense now to slowly kill off DDR4 boards, at least for the high-end segment as competing AMD solutions, ie, Ryzen 7000 series, only have the option for DDR5. DDR5 is also gradually getting faster and cheaper, and support for non-standard memory capacities, like 192GB, is also getting better. Although we hope budget motherboard models still offer some DDR4 variants as DDR4 memory remains highly affordable, and it continues to be supported by AMD"s AM4 socket.