TeamGroup said on Friday that it would start sales of its DDR5-4800 memory modules in late June, early July in a bid to address demand from enthusiasts who plan to adopt Intel’s upcoming Alder Lake processors as soon as they become available later this year. The initial modules from Team Group will feature a JEDEC standard data transfer rate and timings. 

TeamGroup’s Elite DDR5 series will be one of the industry’s first 16GB DDR5 dual-channel memory kit that can work in a DDR5-4800 CL40 40-40-77 mode at 1.1 Volts with Intel’s Alder Lake processors. The Elite DDR5 modules are equipped with a build-in power management IC (PMIC) and a voltage regulator module (VRM), just as JEDEC’s standard mandates. 

TeamGroup said that its Elite DDR5-4800 16GB dual-channel kit (2×8GB modules) will be available from Amazon US, Newegg, Amazon Japan, and various major retailers in Europe in late June or early July. This kit is not going to be cheap though as it will carry an MSRP of $399.99. By contrast, a 16GB DDR4-4800 kit can now be obtained for $135 ~ $200 depending on the brand and supported features.

DDR5 memory could have an edge over DDR4 as far as performance is concerned. The new specification supports numerous capabilities to enable high data rates, long-term I/O scalability, and real-world efficiency, including on-die single error correction (SEC) ECC, DFE (decision feedback equalizer) to eliminate reflective noise at high frequencies, improved training modes, on-die termination, and two independent 32/40-bit I/O channels (non-ECC/ECC) per module. Micron estimated a couple of years ago that that DDR5 DRAM would be 28% ~ 36% more efficient than DDR4 at the same I/O speeds.  

TeamGroup will also expand its DDR5 lineup with T-Force and Xtreme series memory kits that will feature hand-picked DDR5 DRAM chips, enhanced power supply, and cooling to offer performance beyond what JEDEC standards offer. Enthusiast-grade memory kits from TeamGroup will likely join our ranks of best memory modules and be available later this year (perhaps after Alder Lake hits the market), but their prices are unknown at this point.