South Korean memory giant (and Samsung arch-rival) SK Hynix has announced the arrival of what it says is the “industry's best” GDDR7 graphics memory, promising a huge leap in performance.
First developed in March 2024, this new DRAM product is designed to meet the growing demand for high-speed, specialized memory in the AI sector. The company says it plans to begin mass production in the third quarter of 2024.
GDDR7 memory offers an operating speed of 32Gbps, which is a 60% improvement over its predecessor. Depending on usage, speeds can reach up to 40Gbps. This new memory chip can process over 1.5Tbps (equivalent to 300 Full HD movies (5GB each)) when used in high-end graphics cards.
More efficient
SK Hynix claims it has also improved power efficiency by more than 50% compared to the previous generation thanks to advanced packaging technology that addresses heat issues associated with ultra-fast data processing.
The company has increased the number of heat-dissipating substrate layers from four to six and introduced epoxy molding compound (EMC) for packaging, which has reduced thermal resistance by 74% while keeping product size the same.
Sangkwon Lee, director of DRAM product planning and enablement at SK Hynix, noted that GDDR7 is expected to find applications in high-spec 3D graphics, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and autonomous driving. “We will continue to work to enhance our position as the most trusted AI memory solution provider by further strengthening the premium memory lineup,” he said.
As Korea's economic daily Notes: SK Hynix has significant competition in this field. In July 2023, Samsung announced that it had developed the industry’s first GDDR7 chip and was in the process of verifying its products in customer systems, while Micron also created its version of the GDDR7 chip last year and is now preparing for mass production.
