The Chinese DRAM market has just gained another player with POWEV entering the DDR5 market. POWEV is a sub-brand of the Chinese company Jiahe Jinwei, which announced its entry into the DDR5 market almost half a decade ago but is delivering now when it is needed most. POWEV has introduced DDR5 DRAM in form factors like UDIMM, SODIMM, and RDIMM, capable of up to 64 GB capacity and available in either 4,800 MT/s or 5,600 MT/s speeds. At these speeds, modules have different latencies, so it is best to refer to the specification table below. Firstly, POWEV separates its DDR5 products into "pure domestic" memory modules and industrial memory modules. This likely refers to some modules being for PC DIY and OEM applications, while others are for servers and industrial applications.

Both categories come with non-ECC unbuffered memory modules, while RDIMMs carry registered ECC on their own DIMMs. Every module operates at a voltage of 1.2 V, with a specific pin count depending on the form factor. Interestingly, it is unclear what technology POWEV uses to manufacture these DDR5 modules and create these DIMMs, as the underlying technology is undefined. South Korean memory makers such as SK hynix and Samsung usually reveal which iteration of their 10 nm manufacturing technology is used for chip manufacturing, but that is not the case here. Jiahe Jinwei has entered mass production of DDR5 memory, but no underlying technology has been disclosed. For many, this doesn't matter as long as the performance meets JEDEC's DDR5 specifications.

Chinese company Jiahe Jinwei owns a sub-brand of gaming-oriented products named after Norse mythology - Asgard. The company has now announced that the trial production for high-speed DDR5 modules using Micron's semiconductors has completed without issue, meaning that their roadmap is going through without a hitch. Of course, as with the introduction of any new DDR memory standard, operating frequencies are still in their nascent stage; Asgard currently is only offering 4,800 MHz DDR5 sticks, which the most premium DDR4 sticks can already surpass.

It's only a matter of time before DDR5 speeds accelerate however, and Asgard is already planning to launch 5600 MHz DDR5 kits as early as 2022. These should be available in 32 GB and 128 GB capacities with a CAS latency of 46 cycles. The next step in performance increase would look towards 6,400 MHz kits, but these should only be expected towards the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023, should the development continue to move along smoothly. All of the DDR5 memory speeds should still make do with a relatively puny 1.1 V.