Samsung has announced that it has begun mass producing the world’s first 4GB DRAM package that is based on the second generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2) interface. The company claims that this is seven times faster than current DRAM performance limit, which allows faster responsiveness for high-end computing tasks including parallel computing, graphics rendering, and machine learning. The new package is designed to be used for high performance computing, enterprise servers, advanced graphics and network systems.
The new DRAM package features 256GBps of bandwidth, which is double of a HBM1 DRAM package. Samsung states that it uses the company's 20 nanometer process and advanced HBM chip design for improved performance, efficiency, and reliability. The 4GB HBM2 offers enhanced power efficiency by doubling bandwidth per watt as compared to a 4Gb GDDR5 based solution. It also embeds Error Correcting Code (ECC) functionality to offer high reliability.
Sewon Chun, Senior Vice President, Memory Marketing, Samsung Electronics stated, “By mass producing next-generation HBM2 DRAM, we can contribute much more to the rapid adoption of next-generation HPC systems by global IT companies. Also, in using our 3D memory technology here, we can more proactively cope with the multifaceted needs of global IT, while at the same time strengthening the foundation for future growth of the DRAM market.”
Additionally, Samsung has stated that it plans on producing an 8GB HBM2 DRAM package by the end of 2016. It says that this will save more than 95% space in graphic cards as compared to GDDR5 DRAM. The company adds that it will steadily increase the production volume of its HB2 DRAM over the year in order to meet the anticipated growth in demand for network systems and servers. Samsung also says that it will expand its line-up of HBM2 DRAM solutions so as to stay ahead in the high-performance computing market and extend its lead in the category of premium memory production.