Samsung has unveiled an all-new GDDR6 memory designed to meet the “massive memory and increased processing power” requirements typically required by workstations to create objects and environments in virtual spaces.
The company calls it “the industry’s first next-generation DRAM graphics technology” where traditional GDDR6 products are enhanced by adding an additional DRAM device to effectively double the capacity and bandwidth, without the associated effects you might expect from a larger chassis .
Samsung hopes GDDR6W will deliver these benefits with the same power consumption as GDDR6, which the chip maker hopes will allow customers to take advantage of the newer technology without having to make drastic changes to existing hardware.
Samsung GDDR6W
This is managed by what Samsung calls Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP) technology.
Clever packaging also involves replacing the traditional printed circuit board (PCB) with a redistribution layer, allowing for a more compact design with finer wiring diagrams, with typical packaging thickness reduced from 1.1mm to 0.7mm.
Stacking in a FOWLP design is also said to reduce production time and costs in a world where businesses and consumers want to reduce their spending.
“With GDDR6W, we are able to support differentiated memory products that can meet different customer needs – a big step towards our market leadership position,” explained CheolMin Park, vice president of new business planning for Samsung Electronics Memory Business.
Samsung hopes to use its GDDR6W memory for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing accelerators, but has also announced plans to bring it into a smaller form factor to fit devices such as notebooks.
While companies like AMD and Nvidia do not yet support GDDR6W, Samsung plans to work with GPU partners to speed up deployment.