SK hynix has announced they are developing working samples of DDR5 Multiplexer Combined Ranks (MCR) Dual In-line Memory Modules. Dubbed the world’s fastest server DRAM, DDR5 MCR is quoted to deliver a minimum data rate of 8Gbps, making it at least 80% faster than the current 4.8Gbps DDR5 products.
SK hynix has announced they are developing working samples of DDR5 Multiplexer Combined Ranks (MCR) Dual In-line Memory Modules. Dubbed the world’s fastest server DRAM, DDR5 MCR is quoted to deliver a minimum data rate of 8Gbps, making it at least 80% faster than the current 4.8Gbps DDR5 products.
During its initial development, SK hynix engineers wanted to find a way to improve the speed of modules, challenging the concept that DDR5 operation speeds rely on the DRAM itself. They achieved this by utilizing the data buffer installed onto the MCR DIMM based on Intel’s MCR technology, which enabled the simultaneous operation of two ranks.
This means MCR DIMM can transmit 128 bytes of data to the CPU at once, which doubles the allowed 64 bytes fetched in conventional DRAM modules. The increase supports the data transfer rate of minimum 8Gbps, which is twice as fast as a single DRAM.
SK hynix says that this new innovation was possible due to their collaboration with Intel and Japanese semiconductor manufacturer, Renesas. Specifically, they combined their module-designing capabilities with Intel’s Xeon processor and Renesas’ buffer technology. In order to ensure stable the performance of MCR DIMM, SK hynix needed to ensure smooth interactions between the data buffer and processor (in and out of the module). Nonetheless, they all worked together throughout the entire process to develop MCR DIMM–from the product design to verification.
Availability
SK hynix does not indicate when they will bring the product to mass production; however, they expect the MCR DIMM market to eventually expand enough to do so, which will be driven by high-performance computing.
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