SK Hynix announces GDDR7 for the third quarter of 2024

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In March 2024, JEDEC announced the standard for a new type of memory chip, GDDR7, which will replace GDDR6 and GDDR6X. Several manufacturers, such as Samsung and Micron, have announced their GDDR7s in recent months, and now it’s SK Hynix‘s turn to announce its GDDR7.

GDDR7 SK Hynix

For the record, JEDEC is an organization that announces future standards in the semiconductor field. For example, it determines the specifications for RAM generations such as DDR5, the base frequency of RAM, and so on.

The aim of GDDR7 is to offer a significant improvement in bandwidth and transfer speed, while reducing heat emission.

GDDR7: first use case on future RTX 5000s?

According to SK Hynix, GDDR7 will offer a 60% improvement in speed, reaching speeds of up to 32 Gbps. It will also be 50% more energy-efficient than current GDDR6. This performance is made possible by an improvement in substrate layers, from 4 on GDDR6 to 6 on GDDR7. This increases thermal resistance by 74%. Korean companies competing in this sector are outbidding each other on GDDR7 performance. Samsung has announced speeds of 36 and 37 Gb/s, while SK hynix has confirmed its intention to offer 40 Gb/s GDDR7 for specialized uses. Clearly, the latter version is still a long way from volume production and commercialization. Experience shows that both Koreans have a marketing policy of announcing products long before their actual arrival on the market.

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In this respect, SK Hynix will begin mass production of its GDDR7 in the third quarter of 2024. This could enable Nvidia to equip its next RTX 5000s at the end of the year or early next year.