SK hynix: GDDR7 Mass Production To Start in Q4'2024
Update 06/13: SK hynix has sent a note to AnandTech clarifying that the company "plans to start mass production of GDDR7 in the fourth quarter of this year when the relevant market opens up." This article has been updated accordingly.
Being a major JEDEC memory standard, GDDR7 is slated to be produced by all three of the Big Three memory manufacturers. But it seems that not all three vendors will be kicking off mass production at the same time.
SK hynix was at this year's Computex trade show, showing off their full lineup of memory technologies – including, of course, GDDR7. SK hynix is the last of the major memory vendor's we've seen promoting their memory, and fittingly, they seem to be the last in terms of their mass production schedule. According to company representatives, the firm will kick off mass production of their GDDR7 chips in the last quarter of 2024.
Comparatively, the company's cross-town rival, Samsung, is already sampling memory with the goal of getting it out the door in 2024. And Micron has been rather gung ho about not only starting mass production this year, but starting it early enough that at least some of their customers will be able to ship finished products this year.
That said, it bears mentioning that with industry-standard memory technologies, mass production at one vendor does not indicate that another is late; it is just indicating that someone was first to validate with a partner and that partner plans to ship its product in 2024. And while mass production remains another 4+ months out, SK hynix does have sample chips for its partners to test right now, and the chips have been demonstrated at Computex.
As far as SK hynix's floor booth at Computex 2024 is concerned, the company had GDDR7 chips on display along with a table essentially summarizing the company's roadmap. For now, SK hynix is planning on both 16Gbit and 24Gbit chips, with data transfer rates of up to 40 GT/s. Though when SK hynix intends to launch their higher-end configurations remains to be seen. Both of the company's rivals are starting out with 16Gbit chips running at 32 GT/sec, so being the first to get a faster/larger chip out would be a feather in SK hynix's cap.
GPUs
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Rapidus Wants to Offer Fully Automated Packaging for 2nm Fab to Cut Chip Lead Times One of the core challenges that Rapidus will face when it kicks off volume production of chips on its 2nm-class process technology in 2027 is lining up customers. With Intel, Samsung, and TSMC all slated to offer their own 2nm-class nodes by that time, Rapidus will need some kind of advantage to attract customers away from its more established rivals. To that end, the company thinks they've found their edge: fully automated packaging that will allow for shorter chip lead times than manned packaging operations. In an interview with Nikkei, Rapidus' president, Atsuyoshi Koike, outlined the company's vision to use advanced packaging as a competitive edge for the new fab. The Hokkaido facility, which is currently under construction and is expecting to begin equipment installation this December, is already slated to both produce chips and offer advanced packaging services within the same facility, an industry first. But ultimately, Rapidus biggest plan to differentiate itself is by automating the back-end fab processes (chip packaging) to provide significantly faster turnaround times. Rapidus is targetting back-end production in particular as, compared to front-end (lithography) production, back-end production still heavily relies on human labor. No other advanced packaging fab has fully automated the process thus far, which provides for a degree of flexibility, but slows throughput. But with automation in place to handle this aspect of chip production, Rapidus would be able to increase chip packaging efficiency and speed, which is crucial as chip assembly tasks become more complex. Rapidus is also collaborating with multiple Japanese suppliers to source materials for back-end production. "In the past, Japanese chipmakers tried to keep their technology development exclusively in-house, which pushed up development costs and made them less competitive," Koike told Nikkei. "[Rapidus plans to] open up technology that should be standardized, bringing down costs, while handling important technology in-house." Financially, Rapidus faces a significant challenge, needing a total of ¥5 trillion ($35 billion) by the time mass production starts in 2027. The company estimates that ¥2 trillion will be required by 2025 for prototype production. While the Japanese government has provided ¥920 billion in aid, Rapidus still needs to secure substantial funding from private investors. Due to its lack of track record and experience of chip production as. well as limited visibility for success, Rapidus is finding it difficult to attract private financing. The company is in discussions with the government to make it easier to raise capital, including potential loan guarantees, and is hopeful that new legislation will assist in this effort. Semiconductors
Western Digital Introduces 4 TB microSDUC, 8 TB SDUC, and 16 TB External SSDs
Western Digital's BiCS8 218-layer 3D NAND is being put to good use in a wide range of client and enterprise platforms, including WD's upcoming Gen 5 client SSDs and 128 TB-class datacenter SSD. On the external storage front, the company demonstrated four different products: for card-based media, 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards with UHS-I speeds, and on the portable SSD front we had two 16 TB drives. One will be a SanDisk Desk Drive with external power, and the other in the SanDisk Extreme Pro housing with a lanyard opening in the case.
All of these are using BiCS8 QLC NAND, though I did hear booth talk (as I was taking leave) that they were not supposed to divulge the use of QLC in these products. The 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards are rated for UHS-I speeds. They are being marketed under the SanDisk Ultra branding.
The SanDisk Desk Drive is an external SSD with a 18W power adapter, and it has been in the market for a few months now. Initially launched in capacities up to 8 TB, Western Digital had promised a 16 TB version before the end of the year. It appears that the product is coming to retail quite soon. One aspect to note is that this drive has been using TLC for the SKUs that are currently in the market, so it appears unlikely that the 16 TB version would be QLC. The units (at least up to the 8 TB capacity point) come with two SN850XE drives. Given the recent introduction of the 8 TB SN850X, an 'E' version with tweaked firmware is likely to be present in the 16 TB Desk Drive.
The 16 TB portable SSD in the SanDisk Extreme housing was a technology demonstration. It is definitely the highest capacity bus-powered portable SSD demonstrated by any vendor at any trade show thus far. Given the 16 TB Desk Drive's imminent market introduction, it is just a matter of time before the technology demonstration of the bus-powered version becomes a retail reality.
Storage![Rapidus Wants to Offer Fully Automated Packaging for 2nm Fab to Cut Chip Lead Times <p align="center"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21525/rapidus-2nm-fully-automated-chip-packaging-to-cut-lead-times"><img src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21525/intel-foundry-wafer-semiconductor-fab-ifs-678_575px.jpg" alt="" /></a></p><p><p>One of the core challenges that Rapidus will face when it kicks off volume production of chips on its 2nm-class process technology in 2027 is lining up customers. With Intel, Samsung, and TSMC all slated to offer their own 2nm-class nodes by that time, Rapidus will need some kind of advantage to attract customers away from its more established rivals. To that end, the company thinks they've found their edge: fully automated packaging that will allow for shorter chip lead times than manned packaging operations.</p>
<p>In an interview with <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Japan-s-Rapidus-to-fully-automate-2-nm-chip-fab-president-says">Nikkei</a>, Rapidus' president, Atsuyoshi Koike, outlined the company's vision to use advanced packaging as a competitive edge for the new fab. <a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21411/rapidus-adds-chip-packaging-services-to-plans-for-32b-2nm-fab">The Hokkaido facility</a>, which is currently under construction and is expecting to begin equipment installation this December, is already slated to both produce chips and offer advanced packaging services within the same facility, an industry first. But ultimately, Rapidus biggest plan to differentiate itself is by automating the back-end fab processes (chip packaging) to provide significantly faster turnaround times.</p>
<p>Rapidus is targetting back-end production in particular as, compared to front-end (lithography) production, back-end production still heavily relies on human labor. No other advanced packaging fab has fully automated the process thus far, which provides for a degree of flexibility, but slows throughput. But with automation in place to handle this aspect of chip production, Rapidus would be able to increase chip packaging efficiency and speed, which is crucial as chip assembly tasks become more complex. Rapidus is also collaborating with multiple Japanese suppliers to source materials for back-end production. </p>
<p>"In the past, Japanese chipmakers tried to keep their technology development exclusively in-house, which pushed up development costs and made them less competitive," Koike told Nikkei. "[Rapidus plans to] open up technology that should be standardized, bringing down costs, while handling important technology in-house." </p>
<p>Financially, Rapidus faces a significant challenge, needing a total of ¥5 trillion ($35 billion) by the time mass production starts in 2027. The company estimates that ¥2 trillion will be required by 2025 for prototype production. While the Japanese government has provided ¥920 billion in aid, Rapidus still needs to secure substantial funding from private investors.</p>
<p>Due to its lack of track record and experience of chip production as. well as limited visibility for success, Rapidus is finding it difficult to attract private financing. The company is in discussions with the government to make it easier to raise capital, including potential loan guarantees, and is hopeful that new legislation will assist in this effort.</p>
</p> Semiconductors](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uSHTylnm-qO1w3TcBZu0IaW9iHFrShbyIiXHoRWRF6YFk69bnAOAzzyeOF3Uo9IPnNFLXbJSrIL6ZpXgPqYSWqUkPRz8ouentl8L73pbQldIIAmFjCMFCy8j6y3sVOiaekUXd3Pwv2zMLGjhPBem_t96fdnZJbDxtRSGv-yM-aGx1i=w72-h72-p-k-no-nu)
Rapidus Wants to Offer Fully Automated Packaging for 2nm Fab to Cut Chip Lead Times
One of the core challenges that Rapidus will face when it kicks off volume production of chips on its 2nm-class process technology in 2027 is lining up customers. With Intel, Samsung, and TSMC all slated to offer their own 2nm-class nodes by that time, Rapidus will need some kind of advantage to attract customers away from its more established rivals. To that end, the company thinks they've found their edge: fully automated packaging that will allow for shorter chip lead times than manned packaging operations.
In an interview with Nikkei, Rapidus' president, Atsuyoshi Koike, outlined the company's vision to use advanced packaging as a competitive edge for the new fab. The Hokkaido facility, which is currently under construction and is expecting to begin equipment installation this December, is already slated to both produce chips and offer advanced packaging services within the same facility, an industry first. But ultimately, Rapidus biggest plan to differentiate itself is by automating the back-end fab processes (chip packaging) to provide significantly faster turnaround times.
Rapidus is targetting back-end production in particular as, compared to front-end (lithography) production, back-end production still heavily relies on human labor. No other advanced packaging fab has fully automated the process thus far, which provides for a degree of flexibility, but slows throughput. But with automation in place to handle this aspect of chip production, Rapidus would be able to increase chip packaging efficiency and speed, which is crucial as chip assembly tasks become more complex. Rapidus is also collaborating with multiple Japanese suppliers to source materials for back-end production.
"In the past, Japanese chipmakers tried to keep their technology development exclusively in-house, which pushed up development costs and made them less competitive," Koike told Nikkei. "[Rapidus plans to] open up technology that should be standardized, bringing down costs, while handling important technology in-house."
Financially, Rapidus faces a significant challenge, needing a total of ¥5 trillion ($35 billion) by the time mass production starts in 2027. The company estimates that ¥2 trillion will be required by 2025 for prototype production. While the Japanese government has provided ¥920 billion in aid, Rapidus still needs to secure substantial funding from private investors.
Due to its lack of track record and experience of chip production as. well as limited visibility for success, Rapidus is finding it difficult to attract private financing. The company is in discussions with the government to make it easier to raise capital, including potential loan guarantees, and is hopeful that new legislation will assist in this effort.
Semiconductors
Western Digital Introduces 4 TB microSDUC, 8 TB SDUC, and 16 TB External SSDs
Western Digital's BiCS8 218-layer 3D NAND is being put to good use in a wide range of client and enterprise platforms, including WD's upcoming Gen 5 client SSDs and 128 TB-class datacenter SSD. On the external storage front, the company demonstrated four different products: for card-based media, 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards with UHS-I speeds, and on the portable SSD front we had two 16 TB drives. One will be a SanDisk Desk Drive with external power, and the other in the SanDisk Extreme Pro housing with a lanyard opening in the case.
All of these are using BiCS8 QLC NAND, though I did hear booth talk (as I was taking leave) that they were not supposed to divulge the use of QLC in these products. The 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards are rated for UHS-I speeds. They are being marketed under the SanDisk Ultra branding.
The SanDisk Desk Drive is an external SSD with a 18W power adapter, and it has been in the market for a few months now. Initially launched in capacities up to 8 TB, Western Digital had promised a 16 TB version before the end of the year. It appears that the product is coming to retail quite soon. One aspect to note is that this drive has been using TLC for the SKUs that are currently in the market, so it appears unlikely that the 16 TB version would be QLC. The units (at least up to the 8 TB capacity point) come with two SN850XE drives. Given the recent introduction of the 8 TB SN850X, an 'E' version with tweaked firmware is likely to be present in the 16 TB Desk Drive.
The 16 TB portable SSD in the SanDisk Extreme housing was a technology demonstration. It is definitely the highest capacity bus-powered portable SSD demonstrated by any vendor at any trade show thus far. Given the 16 TB Desk Drive's imminent market introduction, it is just a matter of time before the technology demonstration of the bus-powered version becomes a retail reality.
Storage
Rapidus Wants to Offer Fully Automated Packaging for 2nm Fab to Cut Chip Lead Times
One of the core challenges that Rapidus will face when it kicks off volume production of chips on its 2nm-class process technology in 2027 is lining up customers. With Intel, Samsung, and TSMC all slated to offer their own 2nm-class nodes by that time, Rapidus will need some kind of advantage to attract customers away from its more established rivals. To that end, the company thinks they've found their edge: fully automated packaging that will allow for shorter chip lead times than manned packaging operations.
In an interview with Nikkei, Rapidus' president, Atsuyoshi Koike, outlined the company's vision to use advanced packaging as a competitive edge for the new fab. The Hokkaido facility, which is currently under construction and is expecting to begin equipment installation this December, is already slated to both produce chips and offer advanced packaging services within the same facility, an industry first. But ultimately, Rapidus biggest plan to differentiate itself is by automating the back-end fab processes (chip packaging) to provide significantly faster turnaround times.
Rapidus is targetting back-end production in particular as, compared to front-end (lithography) production, back-end production still heavily relies on human labor. No other advanced packaging fab has fully automated the process thus far, which provides for a degree of flexibility, but slows throughput. But with automation in place to handle this aspect of chip production, Rapidus would be able to increase chip packaging efficiency and speed, which is crucial as chip assembly tasks become more complex. Rapidus is also collaborating with multiple Japanese suppliers to source materials for back-end production.
"In the past, Japanese chipmakers tried to keep their technology development exclusively in-house, which pushed up development costs and made them less competitive," Koike told Nikkei. "[Rapidus plans to] open up technology that should be standardized, bringing down costs, while handling important technology in-house."
Financially, Rapidus faces a significant challenge, needing a total of ¥5 trillion ($35 billion) by the time mass production starts in 2027. The company estimates that ¥2 trillion will be required by 2025 for prototype production. While the Japanese government has provided ¥920 billion in aid, Rapidus still needs to secure substantial funding from private investors.
Due to its lack of track record and experience of chip production as. well as limited visibility for success, Rapidus is finding it difficult to attract private financing. The company is in discussions with the government to make it easier to raise capital, including potential loan guarantees, and is hopeful that new legislation will assist in this effort.
Semiconductors
The Endorfy Fortis 5 Dual Fan CPU Cooler Review: Towering Value Standard CPU coolers, while adequate for managing basic thermal loads, often fall short in terms of noise reduction and superior cooling efficiency. This limitation drives advanced users and system builders to seek aftermarket solutions tailored to their specific needs. The high-end aftermarket cooler market is highly competitive, with manufacturers striving to offer products with exceptional performance.
Endorfy, previously known as SilentiumPC, is a Polish manufacturer that has undergone a significant transformation to expand its presence in global markets. The brand is known for delivering high-performance cooling solutions with a strong focus on balancing efficiency and affordability. By rebranding as Endorfy, the company aims to enter premium market segments while continuing to offer reliable, high-quality cooling products.
SilentiumPC became very popular in the value/mainstream segments of the PC market with their products, the spearhead of which probably was the Fera 5 cooler that we reviewed a little over two years ago and had a remarkable value for money. Today’s review places Endorfy’s largest CPU cooler, the Fortis 5 Dual Fan, on our laboratory test bench. The Fortis 5 is the largest CPU air cooler the company currently offers and is significantly more expensive than the Fera 5, yet it still is a single-tower cooler that strives to strike a balance between value, compatibility, and performance.
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The Endorfy Fortis 5 Dual Fan CPU Cooler Review: Towering Value Standard CPU coolers, while adequate for managing basic thermal loads, often fall short in terms of noise reduction and superior cooling efficiency. This limitation drives advanced users and system builders to seek aftermarket solutions tailored to their specific needs. The high-end aftermarket cooler market is highly competitive, with manufacturers striving to offer products with exceptional performance.
Endorfy, previously known as SilentiumPC, is a Polish manufacturer that has undergone a significant transformation to expand its presence in global markets. The brand is known for delivering high-performance cooling solutions with a strong focus on balancing efficiency and affordability. By rebranding as Endorfy, the company aims to enter premium market segments while continuing to offer reliable, high-quality cooling products.
SilentiumPC became very popular in the value/mainstream segments of the PC market with their products, the spearhead of which probably was the Fera 5 cooler that we reviewed a little over two years ago and had a remarkable value for money. Today’s review places Endorfy’s largest CPU cooler, the Fortis 5 Dual Fan, on our laboratory test bench. The Fortis 5 is the largest CPU air cooler the company currently offers and is significantly more expensive than the Fera 5, yet it still is a single-tower cooler that strives to strike a balance between value, compatibility, and performance.
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Western Digital Introduces 4 TB microSDUC, 8 TB SDUC, and 16 TB External SSDs
Western Digital's BiCS8 218-layer 3D NAND is being put to good use in a wide range of client and enterprise platforms, including WD's upcoming Gen 5 client SSDs and 128 TB-class datacenter SSD. On the external storage front, the company demonstrated four different products: for card-based media, 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards with UHS-I speeds, and on the portable SSD front we had two 16 TB drives. One will be a SanDisk Desk Drive with external power, and the other in the SanDisk Extreme Pro housing with a lanyard opening in the case.
All of these are using BiCS8 QLC NAND, though I did hear booth talk (as I was taking leave) that they were not supposed to divulge the use of QLC in these products. The 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards are rated for UHS-I speeds. They are being marketed under the SanDisk Ultra branding.
The SanDisk Desk Drive is an external SSD with a 18W power adapter, and it has been in the market for a few months now. Initially launched in capacities up to 8 TB, Western Digital had promised a 16 TB version before the end of the year. It appears that the product is coming to retail quite soon. One aspect to note is that this drive has been using TLC for the SKUs that are currently in the market, so it appears unlikely that the 16 TB version would be QLC. The units (at least up to the 8 TB capacity point) come with two SN850XE drives. Given the recent introduction of the 8 TB SN850X, an 'E' version with tweaked firmware is likely to be present in the 16 TB Desk Drive.
The 16 TB portable SSD in the SanDisk Extreme housing was a technology demonstration. It is definitely the highest capacity bus-powered portable SSD demonstrated by any vendor at any trade show thus far. Given the 16 TB Desk Drive's imminent market introduction, it is just a matter of time before the technology demonstration of the bus-powered version becomes a retail reality.
Storage
Kioxia Demonstrates Optical Interface SSDs for Data Centers
A few years back, the Japanese government's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO ) allocated funding for the development of green datacenter technologies. With the aim to obtain up to 40% savings in overall power consumption, several Japanese companies have been developing an optical interface for their enterprise SSDs. And at this year's FMS, Kioxia had their optical interface on display.
For this demonstration, Kioxia took its existing CM7 enterprise SSD and created an optical interface for it. A PCIe card with on-board optics developed by Kyocera is installed in the server slot. An optical interface allows data transfer over long distances (it was 40m in the demo, but Kioxia promises lengths of up to 100m for the cable in the future). This allows the storage to be kept in a separate room with minimal cooling requirements compared to the rack with the CPUs and GPUs. Disaggregation of different server components will become an option as very high throughput interfaces such as PCIe 7.0 (with 128 GT/s rates) become available.
The demonstration of the optical SSD showed a slight loss in IOPS performance, but a significant advantage in the latency metric over the shipping enterprise SSD behind a copper network link. Obviously, there are advantages in wiring requirements and signal integrity maintenance with optical links.
Being a proof-of-concept demonstration, we do see the requirement for an industry-standard approach if this were to gain adoption among different datacenter vendors. The PCI-SIG optical workgroup will need to get its act together soon to create a standards-based approach to this problem.
Storage
Silicon Motion Demonstrates Flexible Data Placement on MonTitan Gen 5 Enterprise SSD Platform
At FMS 2024, the technological requirements from the storage and memory subsystem took center stage. Both SSD and controller vendors had various demonstrations touting their suitability for different stages of the AI data pipeline - ingestion, preparation, training, checkpointing, and inference. Vendors like Solidigm have different types of SSDs optimized for different stages of the pipeline. At the same time, controller vendors have taken advantage of one of the features introduced recently in the NVM Express standard - Flexible Data Placement (FDP).
FDP involves the host providing information / hints about the areas where the controller could place the incoming write data in order to reduce the write amplification. These hints are generated based on specific block sizes advertised by the device. The feature is completely backwards-compatible, with non-FDP hosts working just as before with FDP-enabled SSDs, and vice-versa.
Silicon Motion's MonTitan Gen 5 Enterprise SSD Platform was announced back in 2022. Since then, Silicon Motion has been touting the flexibility of the platform, allowing its customers to incorporate their own features as part of the customization process. This approach is common in the enterprise space, as we have seen with Marvell's Bravera SC5 SSD controller in the DapuStor SSDs and Microchip's Flashtec controllers in the Longsys FORESEE enterprise SSDs.
At FMS 2024, the company was demonstrating the advantages of flexible data placement by allowing a single QLC SSD based on their MonTitan platform to take part in different stages of the AI data pipeline while maintaining the required quality of service (minimum bandwidth) for each process. The company even has a trademarked name (PerformaShape) for the firmware feature in the controller that allows the isolation of different concurrent SSD accesses (from different stages in the AI data pipeline) to guarantee this QoS. Silicon Motion claims that this scheme will enable its customers to get the maximum write performance possible from QLC SSDs without negatively impacting the performance of other types of accesses.
Silicon Motion and Phison have market leadership in the client SSD controller market with similar approaches. However, their enterprise SSD controller marketing couldn't be more different. While Phison has gone in for a turnkey solution with their Gen 5 SSD platform (to the extent of not adopting the white label route for this generation, and instead opting to get the SSDs qualified with different cloud service providers themselves), Silicon Motion is opting for a different approach. The flexibility and customization possibilities can make platforms like the MonTitan appeal to flash array vendors.
Storage
Kioxia Details BiCS 8 NAND at FMS 2024: 218 Layers With Superior Scaling
![](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://compbuddey.blogspot.com/2024/06/sk-hynix-gddr7-mass-production-to-start_28.html&text=SK hynix: GDDR7 Mass Production To Start in Q4'2024 <p align="center"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/IMG_1315-678_575px.jpg" alt="" /></a></p><p><p><em><strong>Update 06/13</strong>: SK hynix has sent a note to AnandTech clarifying that the company "plans to start mass production of GDDR7 in the fourth quarter of this year when the relevant market opens up." This article has been updated accordingly.</em></p>
<p>Being a major JEDEC memory standard, GDDR7 is slated to be produced by all three of the Big Three memory manufacturers. But it seems that not all three vendors will be kicking off mass production at the same time.</p>
<p>SK hynix was at this year's Computex trade show, showing off their full lineup of memory technologies – including, of course, GDDR7. SK hynix is the last of the major memory vendor's we've seen promoting their memory, and fittingly, they seem to be the last in terms of their mass production schedule. According to company representatives, the firm will kick off mass production of their GDDR7 chips in the last quarter of 2024.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_chips_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>Comparatively, the company's cross-town rival, Samsung, is already sampling memory with the goal of getting it out the door in 2024. And Micron has been rather gung ho about not only starting mass production this year, but starting it early enough that at least some of their customers will be able to ship finished products this year.</p>
<p>That said, it bears mentioning that with industry-standard memory technologies, mass production at one vendor does not indicate that another is late; it is just indicating that someone was first to validate with a partner and that partner plans to ship its product in 2024. And while mass production remains another 4+ months out, SK hynix does have sample chips for its partners to test right now, and the chips have been demonstrated at Computex.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_specs_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>As far as SK hynix's floor booth at Computex 2024 is concerned, the company had GDDR7 chips on display along with a table essentially summarizing the company's roadmap. For now, SK hynix is planning on both 16Gbit and 24Gbit chips, with data transfer rates of up to 40 GT/s. Though when SK hynix intends to launch their higher-end configurations remains to be seen. Both of the company's rivals are starting out with 16Gbit chips running at 32 GT/sec, so being the first to get a faster/larger chip out would be a feather in SK hynix's cap.</p>
</p> GPUs){kind=link}
![](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://compbuddey.blogspot.com/2024/06/sk-hynix-gddr7-mass-production-to-start_28.html&media=https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v-QGgAolGfVkc9JLbDG8D9IiL-u-pO_-SqdkpyeFgETq84yRMkVE1YutFTbcAxT8qCEkTCD7VCFZoVz5eUWaPyRy1oQBpEPKpnn_Vi7TZV3bM-JQSDiSBBnqlxGdWDnMEA&description=SK hynix: GDDR7 Mass Production To Start in Q4'2024 <p align="center"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/IMG_1315-678_575px.jpg" alt="" /></a></p><p><p><em><strong>Update 06/13</strong>: SK hynix has sent a note to AnandTech clarifying that the company "plans to start mass production of GDDR7 in the fourth quarter of this year when the relevant market opens up." This article has been updated accordingly.</em></p>
<p>Being a major JEDEC memory standard, GDDR7 is slated to be produced by all three of the Big Three memory manufacturers. But it seems that not all three vendors will be kicking off mass production at the same time.</p>
<p>SK hynix was at this year's Computex trade show, showing off their full lineup of memory technologies – including, of course, GDDR7. SK hynix is the last of the major memory vendor's we've seen promoting their memory, and fittingly, they seem to be the last in terms of their mass production schedule. According to company representatives, the firm will kick off mass production of their GDDR7 chips in the last quarter of 2024.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_chips_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>Comparatively, the company's cross-town rival, Samsung, is already sampling memory with the goal of getting it out the door in 2024. And Micron has been rather gung ho about not only starting mass production this year, but starting it early enough that at least some of their customers will be able to ship finished products this year.</p>
<p>That said, it bears mentioning that with industry-standard memory technologies, mass production at one vendor does not indicate that another is late; it is just indicating that someone was first to validate with a partner and that partner plans to ship its product in 2024. And while mass production remains another 4+ months out, SK hynix does have sample chips for its partners to test right now, and the chips have been demonstrated at Computex.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_specs_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>As far as SK hynix's floor booth at Computex 2024 is concerned, the company had GDDR7 chips on display along with a table essentially summarizing the company's roadmap. For now, SK hynix is planning on both 16Gbit and 24Gbit chips, with data transfer rates of up to 40 GT/s. Though when SK hynix intends to launch their higher-end configurations remains to be seen. Both of the company's rivals are starting out with 16Gbit chips running at 32 GT/sec, so being the first to get a faster/larger chip out would be a feather in SK hynix's cap.</p>
</p> GPUs){kind=link}
![](https://web.whatsapp.com/send?text=SK hynix: GDDR7 Mass Production To Start in Q4'2024 <p align="center"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/IMG_1315-678_575px.jpg" alt="" /></a></p><p><p><em><strong>Update 06/13</strong>: SK hynix has sent a note to AnandTech clarifying that the company "plans to start mass production of GDDR7 in the fourth quarter of this year when the relevant market opens up." This article has been updated accordingly.</em></p>
<p>Being a major JEDEC memory standard, GDDR7 is slated to be produced by all three of the Big Three memory manufacturers. But it seems that not all three vendors will be kicking off mass production at the same time.</p>
<p>SK hynix was at this year's Computex trade show, showing off their full lineup of memory technologies – including, of course, GDDR7. SK hynix is the last of the major memory vendor's we've seen promoting their memory, and fittingly, they seem to be the last in terms of their mass production schedule. According to company representatives, the firm will kick off mass production of their GDDR7 chips in the last quarter of 2024.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_chips_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>Comparatively, the company's cross-town rival, Samsung, is already sampling memory with the goal of getting it out the door in 2024. And Micron has been rather gung ho about not only starting mass production this year, but starting it early enough that at least some of their customers will be able to ship finished products this year.</p>
<p>That said, it bears mentioning that with industry-standard memory technologies, mass production at one vendor does not indicate that another is late; it is just indicating that someone was first to validate with a partner and that partner plans to ship its product in 2024. And while mass production remains another 4+ months out, SK hynix does have sample chips for its partners to test right now, and the chips have been demonstrated at Computex.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_specs_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>As far as SK hynix's floor booth at Computex 2024 is concerned, the company had GDDR7 chips on display along with a table essentially summarizing the company's roadmap. For now, SK hynix is planning on both 16Gbit and 24Gbit chips, with data transfer rates of up to 40 GT/s. Though when SK hynix intends to launch their higher-end configurations remains to be seen. Both of the company's rivals are starting out with 16Gbit chips running at 32 GT/sec, so being the first to get a faster/larger chip out would be a feather in SK hynix's cap.</p>
</p> GPUs | https://compbuddey.blogspot.com/2024/06/sk-hynix-gddr7-mass-production-to-start_28.html){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=SK hynix: GDDR7 Mass Production To Start in Q4'2024 <p align="center"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/IMG_1315-678_575px.jpg" alt="" /></a></p><p><p><em><strong>Update 06/13</strong>: SK hynix has sent a note to AnandTech clarifying that the company "plans to start mass production of GDDR7 in the fourth quarter of this year when the relevant market opens up." This article has been updated accordingly.</em></p>
<p>Being a major JEDEC memory standard, GDDR7 is slated to be produced by all three of the Big Three memory manufacturers. But it seems that not all three vendors will be kicking off mass production at the same time.</p>
<p>SK hynix was at this year's Computex trade show, showing off their full lineup of memory technologies – including, of course, GDDR7. SK hynix is the last of the major memory vendor's we've seen promoting their memory, and fittingly, they seem to be the last in terms of their mass production schedule. According to company representatives, the firm will kick off mass production of their GDDR7 chips in the last quarter of 2024.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_chips_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>Comparatively, the company's cross-town rival, Samsung, is already sampling memory with the goal of getting it out the door in 2024. And Micron has been rather gung ho about not only starting mass production this year, but starting it early enough that at least some of their customers will be able to ship finished products this year.</p>
<p>That said, it bears mentioning that with industry-standard memory technologies, mass production at one vendor does not indicate that another is late; it is just indicating that someone was first to validate with a partner and that partner plans to ship its product in 2024. And while mass production remains another 4+ months out, SK hynix does have sample chips for its partners to test right now, and the chips have been demonstrated at Computex.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.anandtech.com/show/21435/sk-hynix-to-start-mass-production-of-gddr7-in-q1-companys-rep"><img alt="" src="https://images.anandtech.com/doci/21435/skhynix_gddr7_specs_575px.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>As far as SK hynix's floor booth at Computex 2024 is concerned, the company had GDDR7 chips on display along with a table essentially summarizing the company's roadmap. For now, SK hynix is planning on both 16Gbit and 24Gbit chips, with data transfer rates of up to 40 GT/s. Though when SK hynix intends to launch their higher-end configurations remains to be seen. Both of the company's rivals are starting out with 16Gbit chips running at 32 GT/sec, so being the first to get a faster/larger chip out would be a feather in SK hynix's cap.</p>
</p> GPUs&body=https://compbuddey.blogspot.com/2024/06/sk-hynix-gddr7-mass-production-to-start_28.html){kind=link}
Kioxia's booth at FMS 2024 was a busy one with multiple technology demonstrations keeping visitors occupied. A walk-through of the BiCS 8 manufacturing process was the first to grab my attention. Kioxia and Western Digital announced the sampling of BiCS 8 in March 2023. We had touched briefly upon its CMOS Bonded Array (CBA) scheme in our coverage of Kioxial's 2Tb QLC NAND device and coverage of Western Digital's 128 TB QLC enterprise SSD proof-of-concept demonstration. At Kioxia's booth, we got more insights.
Traditionally, fabrication of flash chips involved placement of the associate logic circuitry (CMOS process) around the periphery of the flash array. The process then moved on to putting the CMOS under the cell array, but the wafer development process was serialized with the CMOS logic getting fabricated first followed by the cell array on top. However, this has some challenges because the cell array requires a high-temperature processing step to ensure higher reliability that can be detrimental to the health of the CMOS logic. Thanks to recent advancements in wafer bonding techniques, the new CBA process allows the CMOS wafer and cell array wafer to be processed independently in parallel and then pieced together, as shown in the models above.
The BiCS 8 3D NAND incorporates 218 layers, compared to 112 layers in BiCS 5 and 162 layers in BiCS 6. The company decided to skip over BiCS 7 (or, rather, it was probably a short-lived generation meant as an internal test vehicle). The generation retains the four-plane charge trap structure of BiCS 6. In its TLC avatar, it is available as a 1 Tbit device. The QLC version is available in two capacities - 1 Tbit and 2 Tbit.
Kioxia also noted that while the number of layers (218) doesn't compare favorably with the latest layer counts from the competition, its lateral scaling / cell shrinkage has enabled it to be competitive in terms of bit density as well as operating speeds (3200 MT/s). For reference, the latest shipping NAND from Micron - the G9 - has 276 layers with a bit density in TLC mode of 21 Gbit/mm2, and operates at up to 3600 MT/s. However, its 232L NAND operates only up to 2400 MT/s and has a bit density of 14.6 Gbit/mm2.
It must be noted that the CBA hybrid bonding process has advantages over the current processes used by other vendors - including Micron's CMOS under array (CuA) and SK hynix's 4D PUC (periphery-under-chip) developed in the late 2010s. It is expected that other NAND vendors will also move eventually to some variant of the hybrid bonding scheme used by Kioxia.
Storage
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Western Digital Introduces 4 TB microSDUC, 8 TB SDUC, and 16 TB External SSDs
Western Digital's BiCS8 218-layer 3D NAND is being put to good use in a wide range of client and enterprise platforms, including WD's upcoming Gen 5 client SSDs and 128 TB-class datacenter SSD. On the external storage front, the company demonstrated four different products: for card-based media, 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards with UHS-I speeds, and on the portable SSD front we had two 16 TB drives. One will be a SanDisk Desk Drive with external power, and the other in the SanDisk Extreme Pro housing with a lanyard opening in the case.
All of these are using BiCS8 QLC NAND, though I did hear booth talk (as I was taking leave) that they were not supposed to divulge the use of QLC in these products. The 4 TB microSDUC and 8 TB SDUC cards are rated for UHS-I speeds. They are being marketed under the SanDisk Ultra branding.
The SanDisk Desk Drive is an external SSD with a 18W power adapter, and it has been in the market for a few months now. Initially launched in capacities up to 8 TB, Western Digital had promised a 16 TB version before the end of the year. It appears that the product is coming to retail quite soon. One aspect to note is that this drive has been using TLC for the SKUs that are currently in the market, so it appears unlikely that the 16 TB version would be QLC. The units (at least up to the 8 TB capacity point) come with two SN850XE drives. Given the recent introduction of the 8 TB SN850X, an 'E' version with tweaked firmware is likely to be present in the 16 TB Desk Drive.
The 16 TB portable SSD in the SanDisk Extreme housing was a technology demonstration. It is definitely the highest capacity bus-powered portable SSD demonstrated by any vendor at any trade show thus far. Given the 16 TB Desk Drive's imminent market introduction, it is just a matter of time before the technology demonstration of the bus-powered version becomes a retail reality.
Storage
Rapidus Wants to Offer Fully Automated Packaging for 2nm Fab to Cut Chip Lead Times
One of the core challenges that Rapidus will face when it kicks off volume production of chips on its 2nm-class process technology in 2027 is lining up customers. With Intel, Samsung, and TSMC all slated to offer their own 2nm-class nodes by that time, Rapidus will need some kind of advantage to attract customers away from its more established rivals. To that end, the company thinks they've found their edge: fully automated packaging that will allow for shorter chip lead times than manned packaging operations.
In an interview with Nikkei, Rapidus' president, Atsuyoshi Koike, outlined the company's vision to use advanced packaging as a competitive edge for the new fab. The Hokkaido facility, which is currently under construction and is expecting to begin equipment installation this December, is already slated to both produce chips and offer advanced packaging services within the same facility, an industry first. But ultimately, Rapidus biggest plan to differentiate itself is by automating the back-end fab processes (chip packaging) to provide significantly faster turnaround times.
Rapidus is targetting back-end production in particular as, compared to front-end (lithography) production, back-end production still heavily relies on human labor. No other advanced packaging fab has fully automated the process thus far, which provides for a degree of flexibility, but slows throughput. But with automation in place to handle this aspect of chip production, Rapidus would be able to increase chip packaging efficiency and speed, which is crucial as chip assembly tasks become more complex. Rapidus is also collaborating with multiple Japanese suppliers to source materials for back-end production.
"In the past, Japanese chipmakers tried to keep their technology development exclusively in-house, which pushed up development costs and made them less competitive," Koike told Nikkei. "[Rapidus plans to] open up technology that should be standardized, bringing down costs, while handling important technology in-house."
Financially, Rapidus faces a significant challenge, needing a total of ¥5 trillion ($35 billion) by the time mass production starts in 2027. The company estimates that ¥2 trillion will be required by 2025 for prototype production. While the Japanese government has provided ¥920 billion in aid, Rapidus still needs to secure substantial funding from private investors.
Due to its lack of track record and experience of chip production as. well as limited visibility for success, Rapidus is finding it difficult to attract private financing. The company is in discussions with the government to make it easier to raise capital, including potential loan guarantees, and is hopeful that new legislation will assist in this effort.
Semiconductors
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