Samsung Semiconductor is developing DDR6 memory for next-generation computing devices. The upcoming standard will be twice as fast as the ongoing DDR5 solution, though customers will have to wait a couple more years, at least, for its release. In addition to DDR6 memory, which will be used alongside CPUs, Samsung also talked about the future of GDDR memory, which is vital for graphics cards.
The company is in the early stages of DDR6 development, but the standard could be finalized in 2024 through an ongoing collaboration with JEDEC members, says a recent ComputerBase report. JEDEC is an independent semiconductor standardization body with over 300 members.
DDR6 will be twice as fast as DDR5 in all aspects
Once DDR6 memory is available, customers should take advantage of data rates that are twice as fast compared to DDR5 solutions. Similar to how DDR5 doubled the data rates over DDR4, the upcoming DDR6 standard should do the same and thus achieve transfer rates of around 12,800Mbps on JEDEC modules. Or roughly 17,000Mbps overclocked.
In addition, DDR6 will have twice the memory channels of DDR5, i.e., four 16-bit channels and 64 memory banks.
As for LPDDR6 (Low Power DDR), Samsung doesn't appear to have any plans to increase transfer rates over LPDDR5, but the company is reportedly trying to achieve a 20% energy efficiency boost.
Samsung to replace GDDR6 with GDDR6+
Although Samsung will probably release GDDR7 sometime in the distant future, the company reportedly plans to offer a faster-than-GDDR6 solution sooner as a bridge between the two generations. Called GDDR6+, the memory standard will be a refinement over GDDR6.
GDDR6+ memory is said to reach speeds of up to 24Gbps per pin, which means that GPUs with 256-bit bus could achieve up to 768GB/s bandwidth. In turn, GPUs with a 320-bit or higher bus could exceed 1TB/s bandwidth.
As for what will be coming after GDDR7, it could be twice as fast as GDDR6 and top 32Gbps throughput per pin. However, there's no official roadmap for GDDR7, so the upcoming GDDR6+ solution could fill in its place for a few years to come.
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