The upcoming DDR6 promises significantly higher speeds, lower latency, and new signaling technologies that could transform the performance of PCs and servers. But will it arrive when the current DRAM chip crisis has been overcome? Can we really expect a major leap forward, or not as dramatic as the one between DDR4 and DDR5? We’ll tell you everything…
Table of Contents
Technical characteristics of DDR6 memory
DDR6 memory will be the next major evolution of RAM for consumer computers, workstations, and servers, and will eventually reach mobile devices as well through standards like LPDDR6. Its development aims to address the enormous increase in bandwidth requirements driven by artificial intelligence, next-generation gaming, massive data processing, and future CPU and GPU architectures. However, as you know, GDDR7 is already being used for VRAM, since graphics memory is always a step ahead of RAM.
DDR6 will directly succeed DDR5, but it’s not just about increased speed. The new generation introduces significant changes in architecture, efficiency, and transfer capacity. One of the most relevant aspects will be the radical increase in bandwidth. Initial specifications point to speeds between 8,800 MT/s and 17,600 MT/s, figures far exceeding those achieved by DDR5 in its first generations. This will allow for much more powerful multi-core processors and, especially, systems geared towards artificial intelligence and data acceleration.
Remember that DDR5 starts with a base clock speed of 4800MHz (2 x 2400MHz) and a transfer rate of 38400 MT/s, up to 49600 MT/s in overclocked versions up to 6200MHz (2 x 3100MHz). That’s in terms of standards (JEDEC), although there are also overclocked models, as you know…
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Architecture
DDR6 will not only increase frequencies. It will also include internal improvements aimed at optimizing parallelism and reducing bottlenecks. Among the most important technical innovations are:
Greater number of internal channels in SDRAM chips .
It will have 4 memory channels of 24-bit width (96-bit total) , compared to the 2 channels of 32-bit per module of DDR5 (64-bit total), and the single 64-bit channel of DDR4.
Double the access bandwidth per chip. Total bandwidth of 134.4 GB/s.
Greater energy efficiency per bit transferred , to keep consumption and temperature under control even when clock frequencies skyrocket, and that a passive heatsink is sufficient as in the case of DDR5.
Improved latency management .
Optimization for AI workloads, which require more access, even if the data is less accurate, hence the greater number of channels that will be saturated and better utilized by these workloads.
Higher memory density per module . We expect greater capacities:
Optional support for 3D DRAM chips will be added to achieve higher capacities per module.
It includes DFE (Decision Feedback Equalization) technology in some modules, that is, a technique for nonlinear processing of digital signals that eliminates the distortion produced when signals travel at high speeds.
This DFE is one of the lesser-known new features coming, much like the PMIC controller chip and On-Die ECC error correction were in the case of DDR5 compared to DDR4. That said, DDR6 will retain these improvements introduced in DDR5, but with some new additions:
On-Die ECC: DDR6 will retain this feature and substantially improve it (indicated in the specifications as Enhanced On-Die ECC ). The goal is to maintain data integrity at higher speeds.
PMIC chip: This chip is also present in the modules, as it is essential for moving the voltage regulation circuit from the motherboard to the memory module itself. In DDR6, this chip is optimized for greater efficiency, allowing the memory to operate at voltages of 1.0V or lower .
DDR6 release dates
Although DDR5 is still far from obsolete, DDR6 promises a considerable leap forward in virtually every important area. But for now, we’ll have to wait until around 2027 or 2028 for its arrival in high-performance applications, and even a bit longer for it to replace DDR5 in consumer computing. However, the future is uncertain, as the current RAM shortage due to AI demand has led some to even consider DDR4 as a viable alternative to the expensive DDR5. This could affect the plans of memory chip manufacturers… and all of this is compounded by the potential disruption coming from China with CXMT’s entry into the low-cost SDRAM chip market.
In addition to all this, both technologies will coexist for several years, just as happened previously with DDR4 and DDR5.
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CAMM2 vs DDR6 or CAMM2 + DDR6?
There’s been a lot of talk about CAMM2 memory as the modules of the future for data centers, and also as a replacement for SO-DIMMs in laptops. However, the CAMM2 format doesn’t replace DDR6, not by a long shot; rather, the two can be combined. In other words, it’s very likely we’ll see CAMM2 modules with DDR6 chips . This will combine the advantages we’ve already seen in CAMM2 with the new features of DDR6 that I mentioned earlier.
DIMM Capacities
Of course, we’ll also have the usual DIMM modules , as well as soldered LPDDR6 chips for laptops and mobile devices, among other embedded equipment. Therefore, we will have:
Standard capacity per module (consumer PC) : Commercial kits for desktops and laptops are expected to start directly at 32GB or 64GB per module as the common base standard. It’s very likely that 8GB or 16GB modules will be discontinued in this generation, so we’ll see minimums of 32GB. And the maximum capacity of the standard DIMM appears likely to be 256GB.
Maximum capacity with stacking (Servers / AI / HPC) : Using dual-module stacking technologies and advanced chip packaging, the DDR6 standard is designed to allow modules of up to 512 GB per slot.
