Unsurprisingly, DDR6 memory will gradually replace the currently popular DDR5 memory in the coming years, but what do we actually know about the upcoming memory standard? We’ll tell you and provide in-depth background information.
After the DDR5 memory standard, officially finalized in July 2020 with AMD Ryzen 7000 (“Raphael”) and Intel Core 13000 (“Alder Lake”), only really started to slowly replace its DDR4 predecessor in the desktop in the last two years, the upcoming DDR6 memory is already knocking on the door.
But what can we expect from the new DDR6 memory standard – and what reliable information do we already have? We’ll tell you and provide in-depth background information on the next generation of RAM for PCs, servers, and notebooks.
DDR6 should reach up to 12,800 MT/s+
Samsung already talked about DDR6 and its evolutionary stage DDR6+ at Tech Day 2021, revealing many interesting details about the upcoming memory standard.
Based on the speeds officially approved by JEDEC, the maximum data rate doubled from 3,200 MT/s to 6,400 MT/s with the introduction of DDR5 compared to DDR4. Samsung predicts a similar increase for DDR6, which, as DDR6-12800, is expected to operate at up to 12,800 MT/s.
It is important to note that these are only the official standard speeds specified by JEDEC, which could be far exceeded by OC modules.
Accordingly, designated memory bars with correspondingly strictly selected memory components (“ICs”) should be able to achieve DDR6-16800 with up to 16,800 MT/s as OC modules.
The development of DDR memory standards would then look as follows in terms of pure memory speed:
| JEDEC standard | OC-Module | |
|---|---|---|
| DDR | up to 400 MT/s | up to 533 MT/s |
| DDR2 | up to 1,066 MT/s | up to 1,333 MT/s |
| DDR3 | up to 2,133 MT/s | up to 2,666 MT/s |
| DDR4 | up to 3,600 MT/s | up to 5,333 MT/s |
| DDR5 | up to 6,400 MT/s | up to 8,4000 MT/s |
| DDR6* | up to 12,800 MT/s | up to 16,800 MT/s |
Due to the significantly higher memory speed that comes with switching from DDR5 to DDR6, the memory bandwidth also increases noticeably.
DDR6 has four memory channels
The number of memory channels per module is expected to increase to four with DDR6, double the number of DDR5 modules. The number of memory banks will also increase by a factor of two, to 64, which represents a fourfold increase compared to DDR4.
In a cross-generational comparison of memory bandwidth, DDR6 would once again significantly increase:
- DDR up to 3.2 GB/s
- DDR2 up to 8.5 GB/s
- DDR3 up to 17.0 GB/s
- DDR4 up to 28.8 GB/s
- DDR5 up to 67.2 GB/s
- DDR6 up to 134.4 GB/s+
Based on current information, it can be assumed that the fastest DDR6 memory modules will be able to provide at least 134.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth, with OC modules delivering significantly more memory throughput per second.
More features, less tension
As with the transition from DDR4 to DDR5, the feature set of the new memory generation is expected to be significantly expanded. All relevant DRAM chip manufacturers, such as Samsung, Micron, Nanya, and SK Hynix, have already revealed this.
In addition to a further improved PMIC (“Power Management IC”), which monitors the energy management of the memory modules, and a further reduced supply voltage (“VDIMM”), the ECC features for parity checking and error correction are also to be further expanded.
DDR6 is scheduled to launch in 2024/25
Samsung has already announced that it is currently working with other JEDEC members from the DRAM and SoC manufacturers to finalize the DDR6 memory standard. The manufacturer says this is expected to be released sometime in 2024, but no later than 2025.
Read More: sdkblog
The new DDR6 memory will make its debut in the professional enterprise segment and is expected to be used for the first time with the 2025 server CPUs.
The chief engineer of the South Korean semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix, on the other hand, expects a somewhat longer development phase and does not foresee a broad market launch before the end of 2025.