You may have heard that both DDR5 and DDR4 both use 288 pin SO-DIMM’s (in laptops), so your forgiven if you think DDR5 is backwards compatible with DDR4. As you can see in the 50 second video at the bottom on this article, DDR4 and DDR5 are not compatible.
In the most direct terms DDR5 is better than DDR4 because it is dramatically faster, has a much larger maximum capacity, and uses less electricity. Take a look at this table which details some of the technical differences between DDR4 and DDR5:
| FEATURE | DDR4 Specification | DDR5 Specification | DDR5 Benefit |
| Speed | 1.6 to 3.2 GT/s 0.8 to 1.6 GHz | 4.8 to 8.4 GT/s 1.6 to 4.2 GHz | Much Faster |
| Maximum Die Size | 16Gb | 64Gb | Much Higher Maximum Capacity per DIMM |
| Architecture (Channel) | 1 Channel / DIMM 72-bit data channel (64 data +8 ECC) | 2 Channels / DIMM 40-bit data channel (32 data + 8 ECC) | Decreased Latency More Efficient Memory |
| I/O Voltage | 1.2 volts | 1.1 volts | Less Electricity Consumption, Longer Battery Life in Mobiles |
| Power Management | On Motherboard | One DIMM PMIC | Scales Better & More Power Efficient |
| Intelligence | SPD | SPD Hub & Temp Sensors | Better Thermal Management |
| Length of Burst | BC4, BL8 | BC8, BL16 | More Memory Efficient |
In this video, we demonstrate that the notch in DDR5 is offset from where it is on DDR4. This is an intentional design that keeps DDR5 out of DDR4 slots and vice versa.
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