Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake and accompanying Z690 chipset were the first products to formally introduce the new DDR5 memory standard to the world but as it stands, the ongoing chip shortage isn’t doing people who want to build a new system with said hardware any favours, particularly in the DDR5 RAM department. The good news is, ASUS is reportedly working on a workaround for the problem. Well, sort of.
As it turns out, the Taiwan-based company is working on an adapter that allows owners of desktop PCs to slot in their current DDR4 memory modules and reuse them on Z690 motherboards that use DDR5 RAM. The idea is as self-explanatory as it sounds: you take a stick of DDR4, stick it into the DDR5 adapter, and then proceed to insert said adapter into a DDR5 slot.
As you can imagine, the adapter is still a work in progress: unlike proper DDR5 RAM, DDR4 memory lacks an onboard controller that sits on top of the former module, among other issues. Not only that, but the adapter is both clearly and visibly taller, and that could lead to an issue with finding the appropriate CPU to match it, should the concept go mainstream.
Credit where it’s due, this isn’t the first time ASUS has tried to be creative, in an effort to help its fanbase. That said, it’s still too early to say if ASUS’ endeavour will catch on and take off. As time progresses, the constraint on the chip supply will eventually loosen, meaning that this project may eventually be put into cold storage. Only time will tell.
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