Corsair has introduced a family of registered memory modules with ECC that are designed for AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 7000 and Intel's Xeon W-2400/3400-series processors. The new Corsair WS DDR5 RDIMMs with AMD EXPO and Intel XMP 3.0 profiles will be available in kits of up to 256 GB capacity and at speeds of up to 6400 MT/s.
Corsair's family of WS DDR5 RDIMMs includes 16 GB modules operating at up to 6400 MT/s with CL32 latency as well as 32 GB modules functioning at 5600 MT/s with CL40 latency. At present, Corsair offers a quad-channel 64 GB kit (4×16GB, up to 6400 MT/s), a quad-channel 128GB kit (4×32GB, 5600 MT/s), an eight-channel 128 GB kit (8×16GB, 5600 MT/s), and an eight-channel 256 GB kit (8×32GB, 5600 MT/s) and it remains to be seen whether the company will expand the lineup.
Corsair's WS DDR5 RDIMMs are designed for AMD's TRX50 and WRX90 platforms as well as Intel's W790 platform and are therefore compatible with AMD's Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 and 7000WX-series as well as Intel's Xeon W-2400/3400-series CPUs. The modules feature both AMD EXPO and Intel XMP 3.0 profiles to easily set their beyond-JEDEC-spec settings and come with thin heat spreaders made of pyrolytic graphite sheet (PGS), which thermal conductivity than that of copper and aluminum of the same thickness. For now, Corsair does not disclose which RCD and memory chips its registered memory modules use.
Unlike many of its rivals among leading DIMM manufacturers, Corsair did not introduce its enthusiast-grade RDIMMs when AMD and Intel released their Ryzen Threadripper and Xeon W-series platforms for extreme workstations last year. It is hard to tell what the reason for that is, but perhaps the company wanted to gain experience working with modules featuring registered clock drivers (RCDs) as well as AMD's and Intel's platforms for extreme workstations.
The result of the delay looks to be quite rewarding: unlike modules from its competitors that either feature AMD EXPO or Intel XMP 3.0 profiles, Corsair's WS DDR5 RDIMMs come with both. While this may not be important on the DIY market where people know exactly what they are buying for their platform, this is a great feature for system integrators, which can use Corsair WS DDR5 RDIMMs both for their AMD Ryzen Threadripper and Intel Xeon W-series builds, something that greatly simplifies their inventory management.
Since Corsair's WS DDR5 RDIMMs are aimed at workstations and are tested to offer reliable performance beyond JEDEC specifications, they are quite expensive. The cheapest 64 GB DDR5-5600 CL40 kit costs $450, the fastest 64 GB DDR5-6400 CL32 kit is priced at $460, whereas the highest end 256 GB DDR5-5600 CL40 kit is priced at $1,290.
MemoryTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this week released its financial results for Q1 2024. Due to a rebound in demand for semiconductors, the company garned $18.87 billion in revenue for the quarter, which is up 12.9% year-over-year, but a decline of 3.8% quarter-over-quarter. The company says that in increase in demand for HPC processors (which includes processors for AI, PCs, and servers) drove its revenue rebound in Q1, but surprisingly, revenue share of TSMC's flagship N3 (3nm-class) process technology declined steeply quarter-over-quarter.
"Our business in the first quarter was impacted by smartphone seasonality, partially offset by continued HPC-related demand," said Wendell Huang, senior VP and chief financial officer of TSMC. "Moving into second quarter 2024, we expect our business to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3nm and 5nm technologies, partially offset by continued smartphone seasonality."
In the first quarter of 2024, N3 wafer sales accounted for 9% of the foundry's revenue, down from 15% in Q4 2023, and up from 6% in Q3 2023. In terms of dollars, TSMC's 3nm production brought in around $1.698 billion, which is lower than $2.943 billion in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, TSMC's other advanced process technologies increased their revenue share: N5 (5 nm-class) accounted for 37% (up from 35%), and N7 (7 nm-class) commanded 19% (up from 17%). Though both remained relatively flat in terms of revenue, at $6.981 billion and $3.585 billion, respectively.
Generally, advanced technology nodes (N7, N5, N3) generated 65% of TSMC's revenue (down 2% from Q4 2023), while the broader category of FinFET-based process technologies contributed 74% to the company's total wafer revenue (down 1% from the previous quarter).
TSMC itself attributes the steep decline of N3's contribution to seasonally lower demand for smartphones in the first quarter as compared to the fourth quarter, which may indeed be the case as demand for iPhones typically slowdowns in Q1. Along those lines, there have also been reports about a drop in demand for the latest iPhones in China.
But even if A17 Pro production volumes are down, Apple remains TSMC's lead customer for N3B, as the fab also produces their M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max processors on the same node. These SoCs are larger in terms of die sizes and resulting costs, so their contribution to TSMC's revenue should be quite substantial.
"Moving on to revenue contribution by platform. HPC increased 3% quarter-over-quarter to account for 46% of our first quarter revenue," said Huang. "Smartphone decreased 16% to account for 38%. IoT increased 5% to account for 6%. Automotive remained flat and accounted for 6%, and DCE increased 33% to account for 2%."
Meanwhile, as demand for AI and HPC processors will continue to increase in the coming years, TSMC expects its HPC platform to keep increasing its share in its revenue going forward.
"We expect several AI processors to be the strongest driver of our HPC platform growth and the largest contributor in terms of our overall incremental revenue growth in the next several years," said C.C. Wei, chief executive of TSMC.
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