SK Hynix has broken through continuous technological limitations by developing the world's fastest server DRAM.

SK Hynix announced on the 8th that it has succeeded in developing a sample of the world's first 'DDR5 MCR DIMM,' the world's fastest server DRAM product with a new concept.

This product has an operating speed of over 8 Gb (gigabit) per second, which is more than 80% faster than server DDR5 at 4.8 Gb per second.

A new concept was introduced in the development of this MCR DIMM to increase the operating speed of DDR5. Until now, the general perception was that the speed of DDR5 was determined by the operating speed of the individual DRAM components.

On the other hand, development of this product proceeded in a direction that increases speed through modules rather than standalone DRAM.

SK Hynix engineers designed it so that two ranks, the basic operating unit of a DRAM module, operate simultaneously using a data buffer mounted on the MCR DIMM.

Accordingly, in a standard DRAM module, 64 bytes of data are transferred to the CPU (Central Processing Unit) at a time from one rank, but in an MCR DIMM, two ranks operate simultaneously and 128 bytes are transferred to the CPU. By increasing the amount of data transferred per cycle from the module to the CPU in this way, SK Hynix has achieved a speed of over 8Gbps, which is nearly twice as fast as a standalone DRAM.

SK Hynix emphasized that global collaboration with Intel of the U.S. and Renesas of Japan played a key role in the successful development of this product. The three companies have collaborated closely from the launch of the product until its world-leading speed and performance were verified.

“The development of this product was made possible by the fusion of our module design capabilities with Intel’s server CPU and Renesas’ buffer technology,” said Ryu Sung-soo, Vice President of SK Hynix (Head of DRAM Product Planning). “In fact, for MCR DIMMs to deliver stable performance, the interaction between the data buffers operating inside and outside the module and the server CPU is very important.”

The data buffer transmits multiple signals sent from the module in the middle, and the server CPU performs the role of receiving and processing the signals coming through the data buffer.

Vice President Ryu added, “Through the development of the world’s fastest MCR DIMM, we have once again achieved an evolution in DDR5 technology,” and “We will continue to strive to break through technological limits to solidify our leading competitiveness in the server DRAM market.”

Dimitrios Ziakas, Intel’s Vice President of Memory IO (Input/Output) Technology, said, “Intel has led the development of ultra-high-speed products optimized for our next-generation server CPUs together with SK Hynix,” adding, “Going forward, both companies will continue to collaborate closely on the standardization of MCR DIMMs and the development of subsequent products.”

Sameer Kuppahalli, Vice President of Memory Interfaces at Renesas, stated, “The data buffer developed by Renesas is the result of three years of concentrated technological effort from conception to completion,” adding, “We are proud to have developed an innovative product in collaboration with SK Hynix and Intel.”

SK Hynix plans to MCR in the future high-performance computing market The demand for DIMMs is expected to increase significantly. The company plans to mass-produce this product in time for when customer demand fully materializes.