Samsung Releases 24Gb GDDR7 DRAM For Testing In Beefy AI Systems

Samsung has finally stolen a march in the memory market with 24 Gb GDDR7 DRAM being released for validation in AI computing systems from GPU customers before production - expected early next year - kicks off.

Hitting the 24 Gb mark before other DRAM makers will be a welcome relief for the South Korean chaebol as it seeks to overcome the semiconductor division's recent failings.

Samsung is claiming the newly developed chips provide a 30 percent plus boost in power efficiency compared to GDDR6, with up to 42.5 Gbps per pin of performance that promises a potential 1.36 TBps of available bandwidth over a 256-bit wide bus.

On paper, these figures are the sort of things that get AI accelerators and high-end GPU aficionados salivating, especially considering how important bandwidth is for those intensive AI and gaming workloads such as Ray Tracing and 8K gaming.

The 12-nanometer class GDDR7 DRAM uses PAM3 technology, which is billed as the breakthrough enabler for all this high bandwidth. PAM3 allows for three signal levels (instead of the standard two), which is designed to squeeze more out of every clock cycle. That's tech literacy slang for saying this DRAM should outperform anything seen from GDDR6 so far.

Samsung is also pitching this 24 Gb chip (equal to 3 GB) for high-capacity video memory configurations, which will make it potentially ideal for Nvidia and AMD's next flagship GPUs like the GeForce 5000 series. (The Reg has heard unconfirmed rumors about a Q1 2025 launch.)

However, with both SK Hynix and Micron are also readying their GDDR7 chips, Samsung's shiny new DRAM won't be guaranteed to fix the megacorp's unsteady standing in a highly competitive landscape.

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Validation of the 24 Gb GDDR7 DRAM chips with GPU customers is set to begin during the remaining months of this year, with final production expected to start in early 2025.

It's worth noting that SK Hynix's GDDR7 is hot on its heels, and the recent history suggests it's going to be another tight race with Samsung fighting tooth and nail to hold on to its memory market share.