New blazing-fast DRAM is being mass-produced

Samsung Electronics’ 8-gigabit (Gb) double data rate (DDR) 4 server DRAM. Provided by the company

Samsung Electronics announced yesterday it is mass-producing the 8-gigabit (Gb) double data rate (DDR) 4 server DRAM modules based on its 20-nanometer process technology.

The flagship of Samsung Group said the new chip will be used in the DDR4 server central processing unit that will come out this year as a replacement for the DDR3 in the premium server market, the company said.

The Korean tech giant now has a full lineup that uses its 20-nanometer process technology.

In March, the company succeeded in mass producing a 20-nano DRAM chip for PCs, and last month it applied the process to mobile DRAM.

The company said the 8Gb DDR4 server modules based on 20-nanometer technology have a data transmission speed of 2,133 megabytes per second, which is 30 percent faster than the previous DDR3-based modules, and consumes less power.

Samsung said it previously was able to supply modules with a 64 gigabyte memory based on 4Gb products. But with the 8Gb DRAM and its “through silicon via” (TSV) package technology introduced in August, it can now supply 128 gigabyte modules.

“Our 20-nano 8Gb DDR3 DRAM product satisfies three essential parts for a next-generation server system, which are high performance, high capacity and low power consumption,” said Baek Ji-ho, head of Samsung Electronics’ marketing team for its memory business. “We will continue to expand the 20-nano DRAMs.”

Meanwhile, Samsung’s chip making rival SK Hynix announced yesterday that it has developed the world’s first 16 gigabyte Non-Volatile Dual In-line Memory Module (NVDIMM) based on 20-nano 4Gb DDR4.

The NVDIMM is a computer memory module that backs up DRAM’s data to flash memory in the event of an unexpected loss of power or system crashes. It them restores the data to DRAM when the power is restored.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]