Samsung develops world's fastest graphics DRAM chip

Samsung said on Thursday it has developed a new graphics dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip with a faster speed and improved power efficiency. The 24-gigabit Graphics Double Data Rate 6 (GDDR6) adopts third-generation, 10-nanometer technology and boasts a data processing speed that is over 30 per cent faster than existing products, the company said in a statement.

The new DRAM chip can process graphic images at a rate of up to 1.1 terabytes per second, which Samsung claims is the fastest in the world and equivalent to processing 275 full HD movies in a second.

Graphics DRAMs are widely used in high-powered 3D games, personal computers, notebooks or devices that play videos with a high resolution. In the future, it is also expected to be used in high performance computing, electric cars and autonomous vehicles, reports Yonhap news agency.

As the new chip meets the JEDEC industry standards, artificial intelligence and graphics companies will likely adopt it easily, Samsung added. The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association is a semiconductor organisation in charge of standardisation of chips.

Using the so-called dynamic voltage scaling technology, the GDDR6 DRAM also improves power efficiency more than 20 percent, Samsung said. "Samsung will mass produce the new graphics chip at an opportune time to meet growing customer needs and will thus seek to take the lead in the next-generation graphics DRAM market," the company said.

Samsung, the world's top memory chip maker, saw its DRAM sales fall in the first three months of the year for a second quarter on weaker prices and other negatives, but the company retained its top spot in the global market.