Samsung Unveils Fastest LPDDR5X DRAM In The World To Turbocharge AI Devices
It was right around a year and a half ago when Samsung found itself in a braggadocios mood over its 8.5 gigabits per second (Gbps) low power data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM, the fastest in the industry at the time and validated for use on Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile platforms. Then six months ago, Micron and SK hynix pushed the envelope with 9.6Gbps LPDDR5X DRAM solutions. Not to be outdone, Samsung is once again laying claim to the fastest LPDDR5X memory on the planet with its latest offering hitting a blazing-fast 10.7Gbps.
Samsung's newly minted memory chips are built on a 12-nanometer class manufacturing process, paving the way for the chip maker to claim the smallest chip size within the realm of LPDDR. This helps Samsung achieve a 25% bump in performance and 30% more capacity compared to the previous generation, while expanding the single package capacity to 32GB for mobile DRAM.
As you can probably guess, Samsung is leaning into the AI angle, given that the industry is making a broad and ferocious push into AI hardware and software solutions.
"As demand for low-power, high-performance memory increases, LPDDR DRAM is expected to expand its applications from mainly mobile to other areas that traditionally require higher performance and reliability such as PCs, accelerators, servers and automobiles," said YongCheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to innovate and deliver optimized products for the upcoming on-device AI era through close collaboration with customers."
In regards to power draw, Samsung is claiming a 25% improvement in power efficiency compared to the previous generation. Samsung says it achieved this, in part, by having its LPDDR5X adjust its power draw based on what the device is doing, which in turn uses less power for simpler tasks. This is further enhanced by enabling its latest LPDDR5X memory to stay in a low power mode for longer periods of time. In theory, this should help improve battery life on mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops.
Samsung is in the process of validating its latest 10.7Gbps LPDDR5X DRAM with its mobile device partners (which presumably includes Qualcomm) and plans to mass produces its chips in the second half of this year.
