SK hynix has unveiled the fastest DDR5 MCR DIMM server memory - it is 80% faster than standard modules

SK hynix has announced the fastest DDR5 server memory modules - it has 8000 MT/s (or 8 Gbit/s).
This is about 80% faster than the standard DDR5-4800 modules used in the server segment.
The key feature of SK hynix DDR5-8000 server memory is Multiplexer Combined Ranks (MCR) technology, developed in collaboration with Intel and Renesas.
By using a special chip developed by Renesas that acts as a data buffer, SK hynix has made it possible to simultaneously use two memory ranks (chips on both sides of the module) to increase the data channel width to 128 bits instead of the usual 64 bits.
The Renesas chip acts as an intermediate between the CPU and the RAM module, as shown in the diagram below.
The new memory architecture provides the ability to simultaneously route twice as much information to the CPU as conventional DRAM modules.
As a result, achieved a significant increase in the speed of the modules without the need to increase the frequency of the memory chips themselves.According to the vice president and general manager of memory interface development division in Renesas, Sameer Kuppahalli (Sameer Kuppahalli), the development of the data buffer took three years of intensive work.
Intel, on the other hand, says it is looking forward to the application of MCR technology by future Xeon platforms.
SK hynix expects that the new memory will be in demand in the HPC-segment, but it has not yet announced the date of mass production of MCR DIMM memory.

Memory chip makers are struggling to cope with lower demand and falling prices

As the price of electronic components dropped for months, major memory chip makers, including Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology, issued gloomy forecasts and lowered already low estimates for upcoming profit margins.
Other companies announced plans to cut production to avoid further market saturation.
Top company executives and industry analysts don't expect the price decline to end, or even slow, until the middle of next year.Image source: skhynix.comMemory chips used in smartphones, PCs and servers serve as a key health indicator for the semiconductor industry, and there has been a shift from pandemic-driven growth to a sharp drop in demand.
Between July and September, average contract prices for the two major memory types, DRAM and NAND, fell 15 percent and 28 percent, respectively, TrendForce analysts calculated.
With the accumulation of excess inventory, this trend will remain relevant in the fourth quarter of the current and the entire next year, and only by the end of 2023 should we expect a slowdown or even complete cessation of negative dynamics.Samsung, the world's largest memory chip manufacturer, recently reported that its operating profit for the third quarter, according to preliminary data, fell by 32%.
Its U.S.
competitor Micron in late September has not presented a positive report, and the forecast for the current quarter was quite restrained.
SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip market by revenue, is poised to report a 40 percent year-over-year drop in revenue, FactSet analysts believe.Memory chip prices began falling late last year.
Compared to other semiconductor components, they are less differentiated, so demand fluctuations are particularly acute here.
Memory accounts for 27% of the semiconductor industry's revenue, which will be $619 billion by 2022, Gartner analysts say -- the market also includes processors and image sensors, and the biggest players are Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and Intel.
In general, the industry with the arrival of the pandemic showed sharp growth, but this year the situation has changed: powerful negative factors were inflation and geopolitics, which, in turn, collapsed demand for PCs, smartphones and gaming devices.Image source: kioxia.comAfter the memory chips segment, other areas of the electronic components market begin to show negative dynamics: AMD reported that revenues for the third quarter will be much lower than expected.
Stock market also demonstrates pessimism: the day before AMD shares lost 13% of their value, NVIDIA securities fell by 7%, and Micron - more than 3%.
Another negative factor was also another sanctions imposed by the U.S.
on China.
However, there is a way to stop the decline - to reduce production, and it has already resorted to the Japanese Kioxia, which promised in October to reduce the output of memory chips by 30%.Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra recently said that the company will reduce production costs and in the short term will reduce supplies, although in the next decade, the memory market will still be ready for significant growth.
The company's capital investment for the current fiscal year will be $8 billion, and this is 30% lower than the year before.
At the same time in the long term the industry still expects growth - the same Micron is preparing to spend up to $100 billion on a new DRAM plant in New York State.
Intel, Samsung, and TSMC are also considering large investments.
However, one of Samsung top managers recently noted that the company's policy does not include intentional production cuts, and there is no need to abandon this strategy so far.
SK Hynix does not give a direct answer to a similar question, but says it is ready to pursue a flexible policy depending on market trends.

SK hynix will decide on U.S.location by early next year

South Korean conglomerate SK Group said last month that it intends to allocate up to $22 billion over the coming years to U.S.
science and industry, of which $15 billion will go directly to the U.S.
semiconductor sector.
Unofficially, SK hynix plans to build a chip packaging and testing facility in the country by 2025, with the location to be chosen by early 2023.Image source: SK hynixThis was reported by Reuters citing its own sources.
According to reports, SK hynix is ready to spend several billion dollars to build the plant and create about 1,000 jobs, while choosing the site for the new company will be given preference to areas in the relative proximity of universities that can supply it with qualified personnel.
The U.S.
enterprise SK hynix will start mass testing and packaging of chips in the period from 2025 to 2026.Official representatives of the Korean company has no comment on these rumors, only referring to the desire of the parent structure SK Group to allocate $ 15 billion for the development of the semiconductor industry in the region.
In addition to the enterprise for packaging and testing chips, the Korean giant is going to invest in creating a network of research centers in the United States.
This type of activity will also allow the company to qualify for government subsidies as part of the recently passed package of laws.