Samsung has begun mass production of the "industry's most advanced" DDR4 memory, destined for the next-generation of enterprise servers and data centers. The company is touting their DRAM as being the highest performing yet, while also reducing power consumption significantly compared to DDR3 RAM.
The 4-gigabit chips Samsung are producing, which use 20nm-class technology, will eventually make its way into 16 GB and 32 GB memory modules. The chips are expected to deliver a data transmission rate of 2.667 gigabits per second, which is 1.25x the speed achieved with 20nm-class DDR3 RAM.
In late 2012, JEDEC finalized the DDR4 specification, which promised more performance, reliablity and efficiency compared to current DDR3 modules. DDR4 DRAM will be capable of 1.6 GT/s (gigatransfers per second) to 3.2 GT/s per pin, while running at a lower 1.2 volts, down from the 1.5 volts required for DDR3 memory.
Samsung hasn't specified when their DDR4 RAM modules will be available to purchase, or how much they'll cost, but the company claims that through using their 4 Gb DDR4 chip, they've developed "industry's largest lineup of products tailored to applications from servers to mobile devices".
Earlier this year, a leaked Intel Xeon roadmap stated that DDR4 support would come to servers sometime in 2014 with 'Haswell-E' processors. Intel's 'Haswell-E' processors might also bring DDR4 support to desktop systems in the second half of 2014, as might 'Broadwell' around the same time, but Intel has yet to confirm support for the technology in any of their products.