The company has announced the launch of Crucial DDR5 clocked unbuffered dual inline memory modules (CUDIMM) and clocked small outline dual memory modules (CSODIMM), both of which are now shipping in volume.
The JEDEC-standard solutions run at speeds up to 6,400 MT/s (megatransfers per second), more than twice as fast as DDR4 and 15% faster than traditional non-clock-driver-based DDR5.
Designed to provide more speed stability, faster downloads and better refresh rates, these solutions represent a significant improvement in memory form factors for next-generation PCs. Micron’s CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions are the first commercially available JEDEC-standard DDR5 CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions to hit the market since JEDEC standardised the specification earlier this year.
In addition, Intel has validated Micron DDR5 CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions up to capacities of 64 gigabytes (GB) for use with its Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2), which were launched earlier this month.
“As AI takes flight, a memory paradigm shift is needed to keep pace with unprecedented system performance requirements,” said Dinesh Bahal, corporate vice president and general manager of Micron’s Commercial Products Group. “Micron is shipping the industry’s first JEDEC-standard, commercially available DDR5 CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions to power fast, out-of-the-box speeds for AI PCs and high-end workstations. With this new category, we are arming the ecosystem with next-generation memory solutions to future-proof today’s devices for tomorrow’s AI workloads.”
While DDR5 offers rapid speeds, scaling challenges have made it difficult to deliver DDR performance increases while ensuring reliable high speeds and signal integrity, especially when combining high bandwidth with large capacity.
In what is an evolution of traditional UDIMMs, the new category of CUDIMMs and CSODIMMs feature a clock driver directly on the memory module to stabilise speeds. While most systems today rely on the clock from the CPU, using innovative engineering, Micron has directly integrated the clock driver into the memory module to conquer electrical challenges at the root, making memory faster and more stable.
The validation of these new client memory modules by Intel will encourage PC manufacturers and integrators to begin adopting Micron’s clock driver-based memory into upcoming PC platforms. Notably, Micron is the first memory vendor to validate 32 gigabit die-based 64GB CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions for Intel Core Ultra desktop processors, enabling system capacities up to 256GB for AI PCs and high-end workstations, which demand high memory densities and performance.
The 6,400MT/s speeds provided by Crucial’s plug-and-play DDR5 CUDIMM and CSODIMM memory offer an out-of-the-box performance boost to AI PCs and other data-hungry workloads, whether users are upgrading from a DDR4 system or looking to increase DDR5 performance. The CUDIMM solutions are suited for desktop computers and the CSODIMM solutions for laptops.
