Samsung Begins Mass Production of GDDR5 Memory on 50nm Process Technology

Feb 13, 2009 15:21 Nikkei Electronics Asia

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd announced that it has begun mass production of GDDR5 graphics memory using 50nm class process technology.

Designed to support a maximum data transfer speed of 7Gbps, the GDDR5 will render more life-like (3D) imaging with a maximum 28GB/s bandwidth, said to be more than twice that of the previous fastest graphics memory bandwidth of 12.8GB/s for GDDR4. The ultra-fast processing speed is equivalent to transferring nineteen 1.5GB DVD resolution movies in one second. The high image processing speed of the GDDR5 also supports the latest data formats (Blu-ray and full HD).

The processing speed of the GDDR5 is said to be much faster than GDDR4 since GDDR5 operates with a free-running clock that does not require the data read/write function to be synchronized to the operations of the clock.

By adopting 50nm class technology, Samsung expects production efficiency to rise 100% over 60nm class technology. In addition, the GDDR5 operates at 1.35V, which represents a 20% reduction in power consumption compared to the 1.8V at which GDDR4 devices operate.

The GDDR5 is now available in a 32Mb x 32 configuration and also configurable as a 64Mb x 16 device. Samsung said it plans to expand the 50nm process technology throughout its graphics memory line-up this year.

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