Samsung is launching the next memory generation based on DDR5 for 2023 and is also choosing AMD as a partner. The memory chips from the “12 nm class” are to be used in all markets, and Zen will of course play a role there in the coming years.
In the production of memory chips, the same applies as in the logic area: What exactly is behind a production and how many nanometers it really is, is unknown and more of a marketing variable. The designation “12 nm class” from Samsung once again leaves a lot of room for interpretation, especially since recently reference was always made to specifications such as 1-alpha, 1-beta and the following, which followed 1y and 1z. But even there it was never stated exactly what is really behind it, after all Samsung itself has been using the term 10 nm class for years – more precisely for more than six years.
Development in the industry (image: ASML)A few cross-comparisons that Samsung recently attempted revealed that 1-alpha should correspond to around 14 nm. So 12nm would now be the next logical step 1-beta. This also fits with the technologies used: EUV has been used since 1-alpha, and high-k material is now being added, which Samsung announced for the first time in the summer of this year in the production of memory chips. Samsung would also be in good company with 1-beta, Micron also recently confirmed this for series production – and of course they also use HKMG. Micron also wants to deliver in 2023 like Samsung – and that's exactly what ASML's roadmap for storage technologies recently showed.
The next small evolution
The 16 gigabit DDDR5 memory chips from Samsung am In the end, it's hardly the end, it's the small details, such as increased cooperation with AMD. The company wants its Zen products to be optimized even better and validated more quickly, but with classic DDR5 memory, which AMD has been using for almost a year now, this should hardly pose any major hurdles.
And the targeted DDR5-7200 specifications for the future that Samsung is talking about today are also not surprising, because the manufacturers have been peddling high specifications for months. Overclocking records with DDR5-10000 and more have already shown that the chips can already do this very easily today. After DDR5-6000, DDR5-7200 should soon become the norm with faster OC memory, until it also appears as a JEDEC-compliant module.