Compared to its predecessor DDR4 SDRAM, DDR5 was planned to reduce power consumption, while doubling bandwidth.

[2] A new feature called Decision Feedback Equalization (DFE) enables input/output (I/O) speed scalability for higher bandwidth and performance improvement.

Rambus announced a working DDR5 dual in-line memory module (DIMM) in September 2017.

[13][14] The separate JEDEC standard Low Power Double Data Rate 5 (LPDDR5), intended for laptops and smartphones, was released in February 2019.

DDR5 modules incorporate on-board voltage regulators in order to reach higher speeds.

[10][failed verification][16] In 2024 first CU-DIMM modules were introduced together with Intel Arrow Lake and AMD's new AM5 socket (and all compatible cpu).

Earlier DIMM generations featured only a single channel and one CA (Command/Address) bus controlling the whole memory module with its 64 (for non-ECC) or 72 (for ECC) data lines.

[18] In order to prevent damage by accidental insertion of the wrong memory type, DDR5 UDIMMs and (L)RDIMMs are not mechanically compatible.

Additionally, DDR5 DIMMs are supplied with management interface power at 3.3 V,[19][20] and use on-board circuitry (a power management integrated circuit[21] and associated passive components) to convert to the lower voltage required by the memory chips.

Also, writes to multiple banks may be interleaved more closely as the command bus is freed earlier.