SK Hynix has announced it has developed DRAM memory chips based on the JEDEC DDR5 standard. The memory module has module number HMCA2GR8AJR8C and a capacity of 16Gbit. Thanks to the DDR5 standard, the chip is up to 30% more energy efficient and faster than DDR4 memory. By 2020 the modules should be mass-produced.
The DDR5-5200 memory from SK Hynix works at 1.1V instead of the 1.2V for DDR4 which should reduce energy consumption with up to 30%. Also performance is improved, SK Hynix promises that the DDR65-5200 chip is twice as fast as DDR4-2666 memory. Throughput should be 5,200 Mbps (or up to 41.6 GB/s) which is considerably faster than the 3200 Mbps supported by DDR4 as specified by the JEDEC standard.
The South Korean chip manufacturer has sent its first DDR5 RDIMM (Registered Dual In-line Memory Module) modules for servers and UDIMMS (Unbuffered DIMM) modules for e.g. PCs to an unknown chip set developer. The chip set will be able to benefit from the support of up to 32 memory banks of the DDR5 chips. With DDR4, the maximum amount of memory banks was 16.
The DDR5 chips are made with 1Ynm process technology, similar to what SK Hynix has used for its most recent DDR4 chips.
SK Hynix states it hopes that mass production of the DDR5 chips will begin at 2020. It was expected that the DDR5 specification would be finalized last summer, but so far the organization has not made any announcements on the completion of the new memory standard.
