Micron unveils 1β DDR5 DRAM

Micron Technology has today announced an extension to its 1β (1-beta) process node technology with the introduction of 16Gb DDR5 memory.

With a demonstrated functionality reaching speeds up to 7,200 MT/s, Micron's 1β DDR5 DRAM is now available to all data center and PC customers. This new DDR5 memory, made with advanced high-k CMOS device technology, 4-phase clocking, and clock-sync 1, offers up to a 50 percent performance improvement and a 33 percent better performance per watt compared to the previous generation. Yeah, it’s a very big deal.

With the rising demands of data center workloads, and increasing CPU core counts, the need for higher memory bandwidth and capacities is growing significantly. This is essential to tackle the 'memory wall' challenge while optimizing the total cost of ownership for customers. Micron’s 1β DDR5 DRAM meets this need, enabling higher performance for applications like artificial intelligence (AI) training and inference, generative AI, data analytics, and in-memory databases (IMDB) across data center and client platforms. The new 1β DDR5 DRAM line offers module densities with speeds ranging from 4,800 MT/s to 7,200MT/s, suitable for both data center and client applications.

Brian Callaway, Corporate Vice President of Micron’s Core Compute Design Engineering Group, commented on this development, saying, "The high-volume manufacturing and availability of 1β DDR5 DRAM for client and data center platforms is an important milestone in the industry. Our collaboration with our ecosystem partners and customers will help drive faster adoption of these higher-performance memory offerings."

Micron’s 1β technology allows for a wide range of memory-based solutions, including DDR5 RDIMMs and MCRDIMMs using 16Gb, 24Gb, and 32Gb DRAM die, LPDDR5X using 16Gb and 24Gb DRAM die, HBM3E, and GDDR7. The new 16Gb DDR5 memory offerings are now available through direct sales and channel partners.

Y.C. Chen, Associate Vice President of ASUS, expressed excitement about the transition to DDR5 memory, saying, "The transition of the memory subsystem to DDR5 is a key focus area for ASUS." He added, "We are excited to launch our ASUS and ROG notebooks with Micron’s 1β DDR5 to provide a better user experience for our customers."

With the availability of Micron's 1β DDR5 DRAM, there is a positive outlook towards overcoming previous memory limitations and moving towards improved computational performance and efficiency in the industry. This development is a notable step forward in memory technology, with potential to significantly impact data center and client platform operations.

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