Monday, October 5th 2020

SK hynix Launches World's First DDR5 DRAM

SK hynix Inc. announced to launch world's first DDR5 DRAM. It is a high-speed and high-density product optimized for Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML) as a next generation standard of DRAM. Since SK hynix announced the development of World's First 16 Gigabit (Gb) DDR5 DRAM on November 2018, the Company has provided its major partners including Intel with sample products, and has completed various tests and verification of its functions and compatibility. This will allow SK hynix to provide its customers with the products once the DDR5 market becomes active.

In the meantime, SK hynix has conducted joint-operation of on-site lab, system-level test, and simulation with System-on-Chip) (SoC) manufacturers to verify the functions of DDR5. Also, the Company validated compatibility of its DDR5 and the major components on DRAM module including register clock driver) (RCD), which affect DRAM performance, and power management integrated circuit) (PMIC). Through these verifications, SK hynix has been collaborating closely with its global partners.
SK hynix's DDR5 supports transfer rate of 4,800 ~ 5,600 Megabit-per-second (Mbps), which is 1.8 times faster than the previous generation - DDR4. It can transmit 9 full-HD (FHD) movies (5 GB each) per second with 5,600 Mbps transfer rate. Its operating voltage is 1.1 V being lowered from 1.2 V of DDR4, which means that its power consumption is reduced by 20%.

Another notable specification of the Company's DDR5 is Error Correcting Code (ECC) inside the chip that can correct even 1-bit-level errors by itself. With the ECC, the reliability of applications will be increased by 20 times. The Company's DDR5 also could build up to 256 Gigabyte (GB) capacity applying through-silicon-via (TSV) technology.

The Company expects that these eco-friendly semiconductor memories will reduce both the power consumption and operating costs of data centers as DDR5 consumes less power and significantly improves its reliability.

"Intel partnered closely with memory leaders including SK hynix on the DDR5 spec development starting with early architecture concepts through JEDEC standardization," commented Carolyn Duran, Vice President of Intel's Data Platforms Group and GM of Memory and IO Technologies. "In addition, we worked collaboratively with SK hynix on silicon development by designing and testing prototypes to ensure DDR5 meets its performance goals and are fully ready for our mutual customers."

"As SK hynix has launched World's First DDR5 DRAM, the Company could lead the future technology trend in global DRAM market," said Jonghoon Oh, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at SK hynix. "SK hynix will focus on the fast-growing premium server market, solidifying its position as a leading company in server DRAM."

Meanwhile, DDR5 standard was published by JEDEC (JEDEC Solid State Technology Association) earlier on July, 2020. According to market intelligence provider Omdia, the DDR5 demand will begin its surge in 2021, and it will possess 10% of total global DRAM market in 2022 and increase to 43% in 2024.

Synopsys, Renesas, Montage Technology, and Rambus have also stated their commitment to the continuing cooperation in creating the DDR5 ecosystem.

"Synopsys has collaborated with SK hynix to deliver highly reliable DDR5 solutions for advanced high-performance computing SoCs requiring ultra-fast and high-capacity memory subsystems," said John Koeter, senior vice president of marketing and strategy for IP at Synopsys. "Our silicon-proven DesignWare DDR5/4 IP has been validated using numerous SK hynix DDR5 RDIMMs at up to 6400 Mbps, helping designers minimize risk and meet their high-performance requirements of data-intensive SoCs."

"As the leading supplier of memory interface products for every generation of memory over the last twenty years, we pride ourselves on strong engagements with our key partners and customers. Renesas has worked closely with SK hynix to qualify a complete portfolio of DDR5 products for server, client and embedded markets." Rami Sethi - Vice President and General Manager of Renesas' Data Center Business Division

"Montage Technology is thrilled to partner with SK hynix on enabling the DDR5 memory ecosystem. As a leading vendor, we have been collaborating with SK hynix through many DDR generations, and are committed to providing high-performance, low-power memory interface solutions. Currently, Montage Technology offers a comprehensive portfolio of DDR5 logic devices - we are excited to further help SK hynix accelerate DDR5 market adoption," Geof Findley, VP of Sales and Business Development at Montage Technology

"Compute-intensive workloads in the data center are accelerating the need for greater memory capacity and bandwidth," said Chien-Hsin Lee, vice president and general manager, Integrated Circuits at Rambus. "DDR5 DRAM answers the call with higher data rates and new innovations that dramatically boost memory performance. Employing a new generation of memory interface chips, DDR5 RDIMMs and LRDIMMs will unleash the processing power of server platforms. We are pleased to partner with SK hynix to enable next-generation technology for the ecosystem and fulfill the growing demand for DDR5."

Annotation
  • SoC (System on Chip): A single chip solution integrating peripherals that interlock to the system bus and the central processing unit (CPU).
  • RCD(Register Clock Driver): An active element that is used in RDIMM and LRDIMM for servers, which ensures signal quality between the transmitter and the receiver by amplifying commands and data signals applied to memory from memory controllers.
  • PMIC (Power Management Integrated Circuit): An integrated circuit that receives the main power input and rectifies, divides and controls it into a stable and efficient voltage or current required by the electronics; PMIC is adopted in DDR5 DRAM module for the first time.
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17 Comments on SK hynix Launches World's First DDR5 DRAM

#1
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
The AM5 revolution begins!

taking bets on how many DDR5 socket changes intel does
Posted on Reply
#2
Caring1
MusselsThe AM5 revolution begins!

taking bets on how many DDR5 socket changes intel does
DRAM slots remain the same don't they?
This will mean CPU's need to be changed if you want the latest standards.
Posted on Reply
#3
Nuckles56
MusselsThe AM5 revolution begins!

taking bets on how many DDR5 socket changes intel does
4 or 5, as there will be a new one for each CPU generation with DDR5. Either that or they will force it all onto the board instead because reasons, so you will have to choose your RAM size at initial purchase and be ready to live with it
Posted on Reply
#4
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
Caring1DRAM slots remain the same don't they?
This will mean CPU's need to be changed if you want the latest standards.
Mm? RAM slots (and therefore motherboards) change every generation for DDR, intel changes CPU sockets every time they sneeze. Unsure which part you're referring to.
Posted on Reply
#5
Eiswolf93
Any words what timings they use?
Posted on Reply
#6
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
Eiswolf93Any words what timings they use?
Oh they'll be atrociously high at jedec standards, they always are
Posted on Reply
#7
Space Lynx
Astronaut
it will still take a year or two to see what real DDR5 ram can do. no regrets about building a balls to the wall AM4 system right now.
Posted on Reply
#8
laszlo
MusselsMm? RAM slots (and therefore motherboards) change every generation for DDR, intel changes CPU sockets every time they sneeze. Unsure which part you're referring to.
i know what you meant; how many cpu socket intel will change on ddr5 mobo; maybe the way you asked the question was a little bit unclear as you mentioned "ddr5 socket" :)

back to your bet - i think intel learned a little bit and they'll be more friendly this time so 3 socket is my bet
Posted on Reply
#9
stimpy88
Eiswolf93Any words what timings they use?
As with every other time a new memory standard has been released, it will be a step backwards for timings, and bandwidth will be barely any better on the 1st gen products, and the price will be high.
Posted on Reply
#10
TheLostSwede
News Editor
Eh? This makes no sense at all.
It can transmit 9 full-HD (FHD) movies (5 GB each) per second with 5,600 Mbps transfer rate.
Posted on Reply
#11
Blueberries
I'll be building a new computer the minute a platform that supports DDR5 is available
Posted on Reply
#12
R0H1T
BlueberriesI'll be building a new computer the minute a platform that supports DDR5 is available
Well you can try your luck with TGL then or the rumored zen3 APU with RDNA2 IGP.
Posted on Reply
#13
bonehead123
Go SKH !

Now bring on the DDR10 that I so seriously want, hahahaha ..:roll:..:eek:..:D
Posted on Reply
#14
basco
the most interesting feature for me is the dual channel on 1x stick if i understood that correct
Posted on Reply
#15
milewski1015
bascothe most interesting feature for me is the dual channel on 1x stick if i understood that correct
Where do you see that?
Posted on Reply
#16
R0H1T
That's not how exactly it runs ~
With DDR5, one of the major changes to help drive this is the way the memory is seen by the system. Rather than being a single 64-bit data channel per module, DDR5 is seen as two 32-bit data channels per module (or 40 bits in ECC). The burst length has doubled, meaning that each 32-bit channel will still deliver 64 bytes per operation, but can do so in a more interleaved fashion. That means the standard ‘two 64-bit channel DDR4’ system will morph into a ‘quad 32-bit channel DDR5’ arrangement, although each memory stick provides a total of 64-bits but in a more controllable way. This also makes doubling the data rate, a key element in increasing peak bandwidth, easier, as well as a finer-grained bank refresh feature, which allows for asynchronous operations on the memory while it is in use, reducing latency.
www.anandtech.com/show/16142/ddr5-is-coming-first-64gb-ddr5-4800-modules-from-sk-hynix

It's similar to LPDDR4x quad channel(?) for 128-bit data width.
Posted on Reply
#17
Blueberries
R0H1TWell you can try your luck with TGL then or the rumored zen3 APU with RDNA2 IGP.
It will most likely be Zen3/AM5 but perhaps TGL, time will tell.
Posted on Reply
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