Samsung primed for graphics chip leadership with GDDR7

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, has unveiled a next-generation graphics DRAM chip that is faster and more energy-efficient than those currently on the market.

The graphics double data rate 7 (GDDR7) DRAM is the industry’s first generation of the GDDR 7 memory strain, the South Korean tech giant said on Wednesday.

The new chip will be installed in the next-generation systems of key customers for verification within this year, it said.

The development of the GDDR 7 DRAM comes one year after the company unveiled a 24 gigabits per second (Gbps) GDDR6 DRAM — also the industry’s first at the time — suitable for high-performance applications.

Samsung said its latest product, with a data transfer speed of 32 Gbps — the industry’s fastest yet — is 1.4 times faster than its previous model, the GDDR6.

HANDLES 50 MOVIES IN ONE SECOND

At that speed, it can process 50 ultra-high definition (UHD) movies in one second.

The GDDR7 also consumes 20% less power than the previous model, making it optimal for high-speed operations. And for applications highly sensitive to power usage, such as laptops, the new product offers a low-operating voltage option, Samsung said.

“Our GDDR DRAM will help elevate user experiences in areas that require outstanding graphics performance, such as workstations, PCs and game consoles,” said Bae Yong-cheol, executive vice president of Samsung’s memory product planning team.

He said the product is suitable for applications such as AI, high-performance computing and autonomous vehicles.

Samsung said the enhanced speed of 32 Gbps was made possible by adopting the pulse amplitude modulation 3 (PAM3) signaling method instead of the non-return to zero (NRZ) method used in previous models.

PAM3 allows 50% more data to be transmitted than NRZ within the same signaling cycle, it said.

When installed on a graphics card, the GDDR7 boasts a bandwidth of 1.5 terabytes per second (Tbps). That data processing speed is 1.4 times faster than GDDR6’s 1.1 Tbps, according to Samsung.

With an innovative integrated circuit design and packaging, the latest chip also minimizes heat generation.

Compared with the GDDR6, the new chip’s thermal resistance has been reduced by 70%, allowing for stable product performance even in high-speed operating conditions, Samsung said.

IN PRIME POSITION TO LEAD THE PACK

GDDR 7 memory, the next generation of high bandwidth memory technology, has been under development industrywide, with Samsung in a prime position to be the first memory vendor to bring it to market.

Graphics processing unit makers such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) and Nvidia Corp. have been buying advanced graphics chips from Samsung, SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc.

In a related move, Samsung and AMD said in April they signed a multi-year partnership extension agreement to bring the US chip designer’s multiple generations of high-performance, ultra-low-power Radeon graphics functions to an expanded portfolio of Samsung’s Exynos application processors.

Samsung generates the bulk of its memory business profit by making basic chips but has been beefing up the development of logic chips such as mobile processors, image sensors and automotive chips to diversify its business channels.

“We will consolidate our memory market leadership by launching premium graphics chips in an expeditious manner,” said Samsung’s Bae.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.