Forget a 64 GB RAM stick. It's all about the 128 GB module now.
A year after it introduced the first 64 GB 3D TSV DDR4 DRAM, Samsung reveals that mass production for the first TSV (through silicon via) DDR4 (double data rate-4) in 128 GB modules has begun. The ultra-high capacity modules are intended for data centers and enterprise servers.
"We are pleased that volume production of our high speed, low-power 128GB TSV DRAM module will enable our global IT customers and partners to launch a new generation of enterprise solutions," says Joo Sun Choi, Samsung Electronics' executive vice president for Memory Sales and Marketing.
The 128 GB TSV modules are made up by 144 DDR4 chips, which are structured into 36 4 GB DRAM packages that each contain four 20-nanometer-based 8-gigabit chips. Assembled using TSV technology, each chip die in the said module measures just several dozen micrometers and is connected vertically using electrodes that pass through hundreds of holes. The resulting module allows for better signal transmission compared to conventional ones, which interconnect die stacks through wire bonding.
The new modules are further optimized for power consumption and performance by having master chips of each 4 GB package embed data buffer function. Thus, the 128 GB DDR4 memory module, which cuts power consumption by about 50 percent, can provide speeds of 2,400 Mbps, which is almost double that of last year's 64 GB load reduced DIMMs (LRDIMMs).
Samsung is looking into the production of 20-nanometer 8 GB DRAM chips. The company will also offer higher performance modules that scale to 3,200 Mbps and 2,667 Mbps. Applications for HBM (high bandwidth memory) is also a possibility, along with consumer market adaptations.
