DDR4 RAM UHD Encoding Tests in Handbrake using x264

[SameSelf]

This review compares how DDR4 ram preforms in Handbrake for UHD. I gotta say I am fairly impressed assuming it is a 60 fps video that they are getting close to real time encodes using x264.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8959/ddr4-haswell-e-scaling-review-2133-to-3200-with-gsk...-and-crucial/4

[newpball]

DDR4 is definitely the future, not only is the base speed higher but the bandwidth is higher as well.

It is costly though, 32GB fast DDR4 memory sets you back about $1000.

You can have the fastest memory in the world but if the CPU is the bottleneck it does not make any difference.
Until we get faster CPUs I'd say right now the DDR3 route is still more cost efficient.

[SameSelf]

Definitely the early days but in some ways feels like baby steps at best.

[Kerry56]

Did you look at the DDR3 vs DDR4 comparison in those tests? DDR4 was generally worse in video encoding, particularly with Hybrid using the X265 encoder: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8959/ddr4-haswell-e-scaling-review-2133-to-3200-with-gsk...-and-crucial/8

[SameSelf]

Yes I read the whole thing I think the main take away is that the improvement right now is marginal and we may need to wait a while before the performance to price ratio becomes compelling. But this was the first comprehensive review I have seen that benchmarks encoding.

[sophisticles]

This review compares how DDR4 ram preforms in Handbrake for UHD. I gotta say I am fairly impressed assuming it is a 60 fps video that they are getting close to real time encodes using x264.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8959/ddr4-haswell-e-scaling-review-2133-to-3200-with-gsk...-and-crucial/4

That review is meant to show scaling of different DDR4 ram speeds, not how much of a speed up DDR4 offers over DDR3. There is only one platform that currently uses DDR4, namely Haswell-E so one would expect to see impressive looking benchmark numbers. But the speed you see is not attributable to DDR4, it's attributable to the overall architectural improvements of Haswell and the increased number of cores.

[sophisticles]

Did you look at the DDR3 vs DDR4 comparison in those tests? DDR4 was generally worse in video encoding, particularly with Hybrid using the X265 encoder: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8959/ddr4-haswell-e-scaling-review-2133-to-3200-with-gsk...-and-crucial/8

Did you happen to read this:

Overall, comparing DDR4 to DDR3, there is little difference to separate the two. In a couple of small instances one is better than the other, but on those edge cases it might be prudent to say that we cannot make a final decision until we can synchronize the rest of the system, such as the size of CPU caches. When we can perform such tests, we will run some more numbers.

There DDR3 vs DDR4 tests are invalid because they tried to emulate a quad core setup that uses DDR4 with a Haswell-E and compare that to an overclocked 4770k. When you o/c you overclock the whole cpu, including the caches, so without knowing what speed the caches on the overclocked 4770k ran verses the cut down Haswell-E the results are invalid.

[Kerry56]

^ Yes I read the article. And they acknowledge the limitations of their current test in that article several times.

But overall, DDR4 is not very compelling in and of itself at this time. We can't avoid the change, any more than we could going from DDR2 to DDR3, but since I upgrade piecemeal, this just means more expense on the next computer build.

[ndjamena]

The primary advantages of DDR4 as opposed to its predecessor, DDR3, include higher module density and lower voltage requirements, coupled with higher data rate transfer speeds. The DDR4 standard allows for DIMMs of up to 128 GiB in capacity, compared to the DDR3's maximum of 16 GiB per DIMM.

DDR4 operates at a voltage of 1.2 V with a frequency between 1600 and 3200 MHz, compared to frequencies between 800 and 2400 MHz and voltage requirements of 1.5 or 1.65 V of DDR3. Although a low-voltage standard has yet to be finalized, it is anticipated that low-voltage DDR4 will run at a voltage of 1.05 V, compared to DDR3's low-voltage standard (DDR3L) which requires 1.35 V to operate.

DDR4 isn't supposed to be faster at the same speed, it's supposed to be faster at faster speeds while consuming less power. DDR3 has matured as far as it will go, you can get sticks running at 3100 Mhz now (which is well beyond specs). DDR4 is designed to go up to 3200 Mhz so, once the fabrication processes mature, sticks at that speed shouldn't be all that expensive (plus, much like DDR3, manufacturers are likely to find ways to break that speed barrier and offer even faster implementations.) Every generation of RAM since time immemorial has been slower at the same speed than it's predecessor, DDR2 is much faster than DDR3, DDR is faster than DDR2, SDRAM is faster than DDR... DDR4 is actually holding out quite well considering, although since DDR2 only ever made it to 800mhz if DDR4 was significantly slower than DDR3 at the same speed the relatively insignificant maximum clock increase of the technology would kill it.

...Doesn't this same thing happen every single time a new technology comes out, people completely missing the point and comparing them on faulty bases? Let's all go back to SD-RAM, it's faster!

[SameSelf]

^Having spent time in the capital of Chad, I find ur handle very interesting.

[ndjamena]

I like consonants.


here we go:

www.powerlogix.com/downloads/SDRDDR.pdf

Combining all of these factors, and comparing real-world results, we find that although some data can be delivered faster from a DDR L3 cache than SDR L3, in practice, the DDR advantage is practically non-existent.
Careful analysis of the design and operation of the of the 7450 L3 cache interface shows this, but most convincingly, it is evidenced by the benchmarks and real-world applications.

EVERY #$%^ing time a new RAM comes out it's the same discussions, yet somehow the computing world hasn't collapsed around a technology that (if you believe all the early discussions for each generation) hasn't gone anywhere since 1993.

The same thing happened with PCI-E, it's not constructive and I'm sick of listening to it.

The important questions surrounding DDR4 include "which platforms are supporting it?" and "when are they going to be released?"

[newpball]

The important questions surrounding DDR4 include "which platforms are supporting it?" and "when are they going to be released?"

Huh?

It is released already.

[ndjamena]

One of them is, but that's old news.

[newpball]

The DDR4 modules are slowly coming down in price.

Still not low enough to load up to 64GB (or even 32GB) IMHO.