Samsung will introduce numerous new products at the upcoming International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), including an ultra-fast DDR5 memory chip, 280-layer QLC NAND flash memory, and the world's fastest GDDR7.
But while Samsung will certainly attract a lot of attention, it's not the only game in town, as South Korean rival SK hynix will also reveal its new HBM3E DRAM right after Samsung finishes talking about its 3D-NAND flash memory at High -Memory Density and Interfaces Session.
HBM3E (High Bandwidth Memory Gen 3 Extended) is an innovative memory technology that delivers a significant leap in performance and power efficiency and is designed to meet the growing demands of high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and graphics applications.
Nvidia has an option
HBM3E is the fifth generation of HBM and interconnects multiple DRAM chips vertically, significantly increasing data processing speed, capacity and heat dissipation.
According to SK hynix, its new memory chip can process data of up to 1.15 terabytes per second, which is equivalent to processing more than 230 Full-HD movies of 5 GB each in one second. It also features a 10% improvement in heat dissipation, thanks to the implementation of cutting-edge Advanced Mass Reflow Molded Underfill (or MR-MUF) technology.
SK Hynix sees its HBM3E as the driving force behind AI technology innovation, but it could also power Nvidia's most powerful GPU: the B100 Blackwell AI GPU. Micron has stated that it will not release the next generation of its high-bandwidth memory unit, HBM4, until 2025. This has led to speculation that Nvidia could look for an alternative supplier for the B100 Blackwell.
Although Samsung was considered the most likely contender for this, with its new HBM3E 'Shinebolt' memory, SK Hynix is well positioned to intervene with its new product.
There is no official information on this yet, but it probably won't be long until we find out which of the Korean companies Nvidia chooses.
