There is a silent war between RAM memory manufacturers, one where DDR5 as the new high performance standard has everything in front of it and therefore everything remains to be decided. Whoever has the best modules will have some control of the PC and server industry, so we’re talking about a cake that leaves SSDs dangling, but… Who has the best ddr5 chips currently?
As it happens in processors or CPUs, also in graphics cards, the one with the best node will start, in theory, with an advantage over the others. Measurement units are also given in this sector, but given the nature of NAND Flash, process terminologies are not so much measured in nanometers but in the technology of the node itself, which are defined as D1 “x” where x is a letter of the alphabet or a symbol, a differentiating factor like numbers in the rest of the industry: 7 nm, 5 nm, etc.
Micron vs Samsung vs SK Hynix: Who has the best chips for DDR5?
The best of each house has been put to the test on paper and the data is quite curious and worth considering. But before continuing, let’s get to know the opponents a bit:
- Micron MT60B2G8HB–48B:A
- Samsung K4RAH086VB–BCQK
- SK Hynix HSCG48MEBD-X014
The first thing we have to look at is prec isely the technology of the process they are implementing, where in the case of Micro we have an M-D1z with 20 square micrometer cells.
Samsung uses S-D1y with a cell size of 23 square micrometers and lastly we have SK Hynix who uses H-D1y at 22 square micrometers for their cells.
Thus, and taking into account that each chip has a capacity of 16 GB, the total surfaces are really curious and above all they show the differences in the units of measurement already on scales that any mortal can measure:
- Micron: 66.26mm2
- Samsung: 73.58mm2
- SK Hynix: 75.21mm2
This simple surface data perfectly reflects what is important in the process and technology of the node, since the first reaches 0.241 GB/mm2, the second 0.217 GB/mm2 and the third 0.213 GB/mm2.
DDR4-3200 vs DDR5-4800 in 16 GB, which chip is better?
Now that we have this interesting comparison data, what if we even the competition even more by comparing the chips in DDR4 and DDR5 as well as two different speeds? The top graph shows chip size in mm2, where Micron has degraded slightly, Samsung remains the same, and SK Hynix has seen a pretty drastic drop for the worse (+40% in size and -28% in density, worse process in DDR5 than in DDR4).
And that’s where the key point is, the density per mm2, where SK Hynix is far behind in DDR5 when in DDR4 it was leading the market. In cell size, only Samsung has managed to drop and improve in DDR5, which should give it some advantage in terms of frequencies, although it is also true that it will be more difficult to control the voltages.
Finally, we have the nanometer cell design, where Samsung’s progress is clearly visible, Micron’s stability and SK Hynix’s deterioration in the market. What we can clarify is that Micron is currently still the industry leader for DDR5, but Samsung is closing in on many factors and SK Hynix needs to improve if it doesn’t want to be left behind, and he will do it, as he has already announced. cutting-edge D1a technology with EUV lithography, but until then the market for high performance and capacity will go to its two rivals.
And so far this analysis of the best DDR5 chips on the market, what’s to come is undoubtedly more exciting because in three years they intend to double both speed and capacity, so this will be a war without quarter.