https://www.anandtech.com/show/18683/sk-hynix-reveals-mcr-dimm-up-to-8gbps-bandwidth-for-hpc [p] [logo2] [ ] [search] Welcome Log out Login Register [icon-twitt] [icon-faceb] [icon-rss] * ABOUT * BENCH * FORUMS * PODCAST [logo_resp] [ ] [search] ABOUT BENCH FORUMS PODCAST LOGIN REGISTER PC ComponentsV * CPUs * GPUs * Motherboards * SSDs * Cases/Cooling/PSUs * Memory * NAS * Storage Smartphones & tabletsV * Smartphones * Tablets * Huawei * HTC * Samsung * Google/Android * Microsoft * Apple * SoCs SystemsV * Notebook Reviews * Desktop Reviews * Mac Reviews * Ultrabooks ENTERPRISE & IT GUIDESV * Best CPUs * Best SSDs * Best Laptops * Best Android Phones * Best Video Cards * Best PSUs * Best Motherboards * Best Gaming Laptops * Best Mechanical Keyboards * Best Consumer HDDs DEALS * Home> Memory [ ] Menu * PC ComponentsV + CPUs + GPUs + Motherboards + SSDs + Cases/Cooling/PSUs + Memory + NAS + Storage * Smartphones & tabletsV + Smartphones + Tablets + Huawei + HTC + Samsung + Google/Android + Microsoft + Apple + SoCs * SystemsV + Notebook Reviews + Desktop Reviews + Mac Reviews + Ultrabooks * Enterprise & IT * GuidesV + Best CPUs + Best SSDs + Best Laptops + Best Android Phones + Best Video Cards + Best PSUs + Best Motherboards + Best Gaming Laptops + Best Mechanical Keyboards + Best Consumer HDDs * Deals * TRENDING TOPICS * CPUs * Intel * AMD * GPUs * Motherboards * Storage * Cases/Cooling/PSUs * Guides * Mobile * Home> * Memory SK hynix Reveals DDR5 MCR DIMM, Up to DDR5-8000 Speeds for HPC by Gavin Bonshor on December 8, 2022 12:00 PM EST * Posted in * Memory * SK Hynix * MCR * MCR DIMM 8 Comments | Add A Comment 8 Comments + Add A Comment [MCR-DIMM_0] One of the world's biggest semiconductors and manufacturers of DRAM, SK hynix, has unveiled it has working samples of a new generation of memory modules designed for HPC and servers. Dubbed Multiplexer Combined Ranks (MCR) DIMMs, the technology allows high-end server DIMMs to operate at a minimum data rate of 8 Gbps, which is an 80% uptick in bandwidth compared to existing DDR5 memory products (4.8 Gbps). Typically, the most common way to ensure higher throughput performance on DIMMs is through ever increasing memory bus (and chip) clockspeeds. This strategy is not without its drawbacks, however, and aiming to find a more comprehensive way of doing this, SK hynix, in collaboration with both Intel and Renesas, has created the Multiplexer Combined Rank DDR5 DIMM. [sk-hynix_M] Combining Intel's previously-unannounced MCR technology for its server chips and Renesas's expertise in buffer technology, SK hynix claims that their DDR5 MCR DIMM has 66% more bandwidth than conventional DDR5 DIMMs, with an impressive 8 Gbps/pin (DDR5-8000) of bandwidth. SK hynix themselves claim that the MCR DIMM will be 'at least' 80% faster than what's currently out there DDR5-wise, but it doesn't quantitate how it reaches this figure. The technology behind the MCR DIMM is interesting, as it enables simultaneous usage of two ranks instead of one, in essence ganging up two sets/ranks of memory chips in order to double the effective bandwidth. Unfortunately, the details beyond this are slim and unclear - in particular, SK hynix claims that MCR "allows transmission of 128 bytes of data to CPU at once", but looking at the supplied DIMM photo, there doesn't seem to be nearly enough pins to support a physically wider memory bus. More likely, SK hynix and Intel are serializing the memory operations for both ranks of memory inside a single DDR5 channel, allowing the two ranks to achieve a cumulative effective bandwidth of 8Gbps. This is supported by the use of the Renesas data buffer chip, which is shown to be on the DIMM in SK hynix's photos. Conceptually, this isn't too far removed from Load Reduced DIMMs (LRDIMMs), which employs a data buffer between the CPU and memory chips as well, though just how far is difficult to determine. More curious, perhaps, is that this design puts a great deal of faith into the ability of the physical memory bus and host controller (CPU) to be able to operate at DDR5-8000 (and higher) speeds. Normally the bottleneck in getting more memory bandwidth in server-grade systems is the memory bus to begin with - having to operate at slower speeds to accommodate more memory - so going a route that requires such a fast memory bus is definitely a different approach. In either case, the ability to run DIMMs at DDR5-8000 speeds in a server would be a significant boon to memory bandwidth and throughput, as that's often in short supply with today's many-core chips. [MCR-DIMM_0] As SK Hynix has partnered up with Intel via its MCR technology and using buffer technology from Renesas, MCR would seem to be an Intel-exclusive technology, at least to start with. As part of SK hynix's press release, Intel for its part stated that they "look forward to bringing this technology to future Intel Xeon processors and supporting standardization and multigenerational development efforts across the industry." In the interim, this appears to be a technology still under active development, and SK hynix is not publishing anything about availability, compatibility, or pricing. While SK Hynix hasn't gone too much into how MCR DIMM is twice as fast as conventional DDR5 memory, this product is designed for the high-performance computing (HPC) and server industries, and it's unlikely we'll see MCR DIMMs in any form on consumer-based systems. We expect to learn more in the not-too-distant future. Source: SK Hynix Tweet PRINT THIS ARTICLE * Post Your Comment [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Please log in or sign up to comment. [ ] [Submit Comment] [ajax-loade] POST A COMMENT 8 Comments View All Comments * kpb321 - Thursday, December 8, 2022 - link I assume the 128b is not because it's using a wider memory bus but because the memory controller is using that for addressing both ranks at one time. So it's not two independent 64bit memory channels being interleaved but one 128bit memory address being read over a 64bit bus so Rank 0 and Rank 1 are always reading from the same addresses. Two independent buses would be more flexible but probably harder to implement. I wonder what this does to max memory capacity. Presumably having a buffer chip like LRDIMMS would help support more dimms per channel and therefore memory capacity but running the memory bus at such high speed might counteract that. Reply * Kevin G - Thursday, December 8, 2022 - link I wonder what latency impact is. I would presume something small since this piggy backs off of LR-DIMM topology. Similarly I wonder this does to the various subtimings on the module. Presuming these work on Genoa chips (big if given the parties involved), that'd permit 768 GByte/s of memory bandwidth per socket. That's rather impressive. Reply * onewingedangel - Thursday, December 8, 2022 - link I read it as 128-bit wide DDR5-4000 to an on module buffer that then transfers to the CPU over a 64-bit DDR5-8000 bus - thus lowering required pin count compared to standard DDR5. Reply * meacupla - Thursday, December 8, 2022 - link so does the mobo need to support MCR DIMMs, or will it work in any mobo that supports DDR5? Because if MCR only works in MCR mobos, then I don't see why they wouldn't just use a wider memory bus from the server level CPU. Like give it 32 channels. Reply * Kevin G - Sunday, December 11, 2022 - link Motherboard complexity goes up as more channels are added. The 12 channels Genoa has is on the upper limits of what is feasible without going to fully buffered memory/CLX. Reply * The Von Matrices - Sunday, December 11, 2022 - link This doesn't add any more traces on the motherboard, and the memory slots would be the same. However, like LRDIMMs and ECC, the memory controller on the CPU has to support it, which I doubt AMD and especially Intel will do on anything but their most expensive server CPUs. Reply * deil - Friday, December 9, 2022 - link And that's why we make those upgrades even when it seems bottlenecked. It's not even solid on the market, and someone is already ripping a chunk out of limits. Cache everything! it seems like it might both double size and speed, which is never a bad thing, no matter what you do. when and how much is now the main question. I hope its 2023 not 2032... Reply * Harry_Wild - Monday, December 12, 2022 - link Just what I been waiting for in my next desktop Raptor Lake & Ryzen 7000 PCs. Need tip top memory performance for email, internet browsing and watching streaming videos/channels! Reply * 1 PIPELINE STORIES + Submit News AT Deals: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB SSD Now $150 at Amazon [dell_revea] SK hynix Reveals DDR5 MCR DIMM, Up to DDR5-8000 Speeds for HPC AT Deals: Intel Optane 905p 960 GB SSD at Newegg for $350 * TSMC Unveils Major U.S. Fab Expansion Plans: 3nm and $40 Billion by 2026 * AT Deals: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU Down to $330 at B&H Photo * Site News: December 1st Outage * Best PC Power Supplies: Holiday 2022 * Best Mechanical Keyboards: Holiday 2022 * Sponsored Post: Trying to Pick Out Your New RTX 40 Series GPU? ASUS Has Two Mighty Options For You * Intel Launches Raptor Canyon: Desktop Raptor Lake Sizzles in NUC13 Extreme * Best Internal Hard Drives: Holiday 2022 * Best AMD Motherboards: Holiday 2022 TWEETS [twiiter_bi] * RyanSmithAT: @Dachsjaeger I'm a bit late to this, but the answer depends on the market segment. High-end is no, since bigger hea... https://t.co/hptgcFccL8 * RyanSmithAT: E. goes in to a very detailed outline on page 2; ATX 3.0 requires a slew rate of at least 5 A/mS. It's actually fai... https://t.co/L2GcckJKu4 * RyanSmithAT: Along with the usual (and intensive) PSU quality metrics, we also took our first stab at evaluating ATX 3.0 complia... https://t.co/yGzRVxwwBY * RyanSmithAT: And a big thanks to @AshPuckettB2B on this one * RyanSmithAT: Obviously, newer generation PCIe 4.0 SSDs can put up much more sequential performance. But the Optane stuff is very... https://t.co/W4uAV7QOey * gavbon86: @IntelUK Where can we buy one? * ganeshts: @FanlessTech @fragtalife @yannFichant Just different color options, I guess. The perforations on the underside don'... https://t.co/rCRqXuXRWq * gavbon86: Sorry for being so quiet lately, but I've been dealing with an illness. Don't worry though, I'll be back to my best... https://t.co/i3VtC2KvP6 * ganeshts: @Casper042 @anandtech Yes. There are cheaper Gen 2x2 enclosures, but my experience with them has been flaky at best... https://t.co/zCLcW1oeLl * ganeshts: @Casper042 @anandtech The Silverstone MS12 with a SK hynix P31 is in the comparison list already. The enclosure is... https://t.co/U5aog0IGqK * ganeshts: @physbryan @robertheron After much research and usage of both VRLA and Li-ion UPSes, the only positive I have seen... https://t.co/0fshHsm6vC * ganeshts: @robertheron Highly recommend the APC Smart UPS 500 Li-ion if you want something under your desk. Have 1 in deploy... https://t.co/lLnykFqC2p * gavbon86: @Claressashields @Savmarshall1 You absolutely outclassed her * gavbon86: @MatchroomBoxing @iam_yafai @DAZNBoxing 3rd ranked versus 138th ranked...Amazing match up * gavbon86: RT @anandtech: Just in time for storing all your holiday movies, @ganeshts has updated his fantastic HDD buyer's guide. FC-MAMR, 22TB drive... Follow @ANANDTECH [twitter_do] LINKS * Home * About * Forums * RSS * Pipeline News * Bench * Terms of Use * Contact Us * * TOPICS * CPUs * Motherboards * SSD/HDD * GPUs * Mobile * Enterprise & IT * Smartphones * Memory * Cases/Cooling/PSU(s) * Displays * Mac * Systems * Cloud * Trade Shows * Guides FOLLOW * [icon-faceb]Facebook * [icon-twitt]Twitter * [icon-rss2]RSS The Most Trusted in Tech Since 1997 * About * Advertising * Privacy Policy purch Copyright (c) 2022. All rights reserved. * TOPICS * FOLLOW * ABOUT [gryBg1] * CPUs * Motherboards * SSD/HDD * GPUs * Mobile * Enterprise & IT * Smartphones * Memory * Cases/Cooling/PSU(s) * Displays * Mac * Systems * Cloud * Trade Shows * Guides [gryBg1] [icon-faceb]Facebook [icon-twitt]Twitter [icon-rss2]RSS [gryBg1] About Advertising Privacy Policy Contact Us Terms of Use Show Full Site Copyright (c) 2022. All rights reserved. BENCH * [bench_li_p]CPU * [bench_li_p]SSD * [gpubench20]GPU 2013 * [bench_li_p]GPU 2012 * [bench_li_p]Smartphone 2011 * [bench_li_p]Mobile TOPICS * CPUs * Motherboards * SSD/HDD * GPUs * Mobile * Enterprise & IT * Smartphones * Memory * Cases/Cooling/PSU(s) * Displays * Mac * Systems * Cloud * Trade Shows * Guides FOLLOW [icon-faceb]Facebook [icon-twitt]Twitter [icon-rss2]RSS ABOUT * About * Advertising * Privacy Policy * Contact Us * Show Full Site * Copyright (c) 2022. All rights reserved. Log in Don't have an account? Sign up now Username [ ] Password [ ] Remember Me [ ] [LOG IN][ajax-loade] Lost your password? We've updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site's updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.