Validation for SK hynix 1anm DDR5 DRAM on 4th Gen Xeon Scalable Processor

SK hynix Inc. announced that its DDR5 product for servers using 1anm, the 4th gen of the 10nm process technology, has been validated on the 4th Gen Xeon Scalable processor (formerly codenamed Sapphire Rapids) for a first time.

“The validation of the 1anm DDR5 compatibility by Intel for its newest processor that supports DDR5 for the first time is monumental,” said the company. “We will seek a fast turnaround in the semiconductor memory industry by actively responding to the growing server market through DDR5, which is already in mass production.”

The validation of the company’s 1anm DDR5 product, which adopts 1anm technology using the EUV lithography process, is for 4th gen Xeon Scalable processors, Intel Corp.’s latest server CPU launched on January 10.

The 4th gen Xeon Scalable processor has been cited as a key to a turnaround in the industry, given that the launch of a next-gen server CPU requires server replacement and thus, results in a rapid increase in demand for high-performance memory chips. Experts predict that DDR5, expected to meet customers’ such needs, will soon become the flagship product in the server DRAM market.

The company’s DDR5 delivers performance/watt ^(*) and carbon emissions reduction effect to server customers as it reduces power consumption by up to 20% compared to DDR4, while boosting performance by 70% or more.

The firm also announced that its 1ynm DDR5, the 2nd gen of the 10nm process technology, has also successfully completed the validation of memory compatibility with Intel. The company expects provision of various DDR5 products including 16 and 24Gb storage capacities to boost sales of server DRAM.

“The company is in close cooperation with a number of customers for wider adoption of DDR5 following the launch of the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor and will strengthen its leadership in the ever-growing server market,” said Sungsoo Ryu, head, DRAM product planning.

“Intel has been working diligently with SK hynix, JEDEC and the industry to bring DDR5 to life from initial inception to the scalable, reliable memory subsystem at the heart of our latest processor technology,” said Dr. Dimitrios Ziakas, VP, memory and I/O technologies, Intel. “The 4th gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor takes advantage of DDR5 enhanced memory features to deliver the bandwidth, performance and scaling capacity needed by our data center customers across a vast array of workloads and applications.”

Meanwhile, the firm, in collaboration with Intel, published a DDR5 white paper, which includes the features of DDR5 and the performance of the company’s 1anm DDR5. It expects the white paper to be used as a reference for server customers who plan to adopt the firm’s DDR5 in the future.

SK hynix DDR5 development timeline:

Launch of industry’s first DDR5 in October 2020
Shipment of industry’s first 24Gb DDR5 samples in December 2021
Obtainment of industry’s first Intel validation of 1anm DDR5 for servers in January 2023

^(*)Performance/watt: an indicator of how much computation is performed per watt of power consumed.