Notebookcheck Logo

Preliminary DDR7 specs put the next-gen RAM's top speed at 5 times that of standard DDR5

Samsung's DDR5 is now official. (Source: Samsung)
Samsung's DDR5 is now official. (Source: Samsung)
The bleeding edge of DRAM technology is now officially known as DDR5, rated for twice the data-transfer rates of its predecessor DDR4. However, its own next generation, DDR6, is now slated to launch with double these new speeds - or less than half those of DDR7 again. Both upcoming upgrades are said to be in the works at Samsung already.

Samsung has only just announced its top-end DDR5 modules, aimed at the demands of next-gen server-grade applications thus far. The OEM claims to leverage the new RAM's JEDEC-standard specs (which involve doubling up on the performance of (standard) DDR4 to arrive at a top data-transfer rate of 6,400 megatransfers per second (MT/s)) to produce a final product capable of reaching speeds of 7,200 megabits per second (Mb/s).

However, the South Korean giant is now slated to have a developmental roadmap that starts with a direct replacement for this new top-end standard, progressing through steps such as its low-power counterpart to end at a new 'final form' known as GDDR7.

Accordingly, the first stage on this journey is (almost inevitably) to become known as DDR6. It is now slated to offer 2x improvements on many prevalent DDR5 specs, its standard top JEDEC-mandated clock speed, memory bank count, and number of 16-bit channels included. Accordingly, this upcoming Samsung DRAM might be capable of up to 12,800MT/s, have 64 banks and be quad-channel by default.

Furthermore, as overclocked DDR5 is currently slated to top out at 8,400MT/s, its successor is now said to achieve no less than 17,000MT/s under similar conditions. Samsung is also now believed to be racing ahead with what comes next after that as well, with plans for not merely low-power options, but an interim GDDR6+ generation.

The first of these - LPDDR6 - may not improve on the current projected specs for LPDDR5 (6,400 MT/s at most) or even LPDDR5X (with a potential for ~8,500MT/s) so much as offer advanced power efficiency instead.

Not much is known about GDDR6+ for sure at this point, although it is expected to tide users over with similar gains as standard to the tune of 24,000 MT/s, based on a next-gen "1z-nanometer" (nm; presumably a progression from Samsung's existing 10nm EUV production method) process until the ultimate major upgrade, GDDR7, gets here.

That generation is now allegedly destined for speeds of up to 32,000MT/s. It is also projected to incorporate something called a "real-time error protection feature", whereas Samsung's DDR5 boasts "on-die error-correction" technology.

Buy some Samsung 32GB DDR4 2666MHz RAM on Amazon

Source(s)

Read all 3 comments / answer
static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
Mail Logo
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2021 11 > Preliminary DDR7 specs put the next-gen RAM's top speed at 5 times that of standard DDR5
Deirdre O'Donnell, 2021-11-21 (Update: 2021-11-21)