Samsung Develops 4Gb DDR3 for 32GB RDIMMs

Samsung announced this week that it has developed the world’s highest density DRAM chip.

Using its 50 nm technology, Samsung has made the world’s first 4 Gb DDR3 DRAM chip. "We have leveraged our strength in innovation to develop the first 4Gb DDR3, in leading the industry to higher DRAM densities," said Kevin Lee, vice president, technical marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.

"By designing our 4Gb DDR3 using state-of-the-art 50-nm class technology, we are setting the stage for what ultimately will result in significant cost-savings, for servers and for the overall computing market," he added.

The South Korean electronics company said that its low-power 4Gb DDR3 is of the ‘green’ variety, which it is pitching as a selling point to data center managers because it “will not only provide a reduction in electricity bills, but also a cutback in installment fees, maintenance fees and repair fees involving power suppliers and heat-emitting equipment.”

Samsung’s new 4 Gb DDR3 DRAM chips operate at 1.35V, and the company even does the handy math for us by saying it’s a 20 percent improvement over a 1.5V DDR3. Also, its maximum speed is 1.6 gigabits per second (Gbps).

The company goes on to explain that 4 Gb DDR3 can consume 40 percent less power than 2 Gb DDR3 (in the case of 16 GB module configurations) because of its higher density and because it uses only half the DRAM (32 vs. 64 chips).

4 Gb DDR3 can be produced in 16 GB RDIMMs for servers, as well as 8 GB DIMMs for workstations, desktops and laptops. Samsung can then double that number using its dual-die packaging technology, giving a potential 32 GB. How 'bout that?