Samsung develops industry’s first HKMG-based DRAM

Samsung Electronics has developed a new DRAM memory module that is twice faster than existing products while consuming 13 percent less power. The new DDR will be used in server memory to help improve electric energy efficiency at large data centers.

The South Korean company announced on Thursday the development of the 512GB DDR5 module based on High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process technology, which delivers more than twice the performance of DDR4.

Samsung Electronics’ DDR5 can send data at up to 7,200 Mbps (megabits per second). This means two 30GB UHD films can be downloaded within a second. DDR4 offers up to 3,200 Mbps in data transfer rate with the maximum capacity of 256GB.

The new DDR5 uses the HKMG process, which is used to manufacture system semiconductors, to save energy. The process has less current leakage, which leads to 13 percent less energy consumption compared to existing modules.

“Based on the expertise in system semiconductor production, we were able to develop high-performance, yet energy-efficient solutions,” said a source from Samsung Electronics. “Because it consumes much less energy, it will be used in areas where energy efficiency is critical such as large data centers or AI.”


will@donga.com