Micron/Crucial Fast Clock Driver DDR5 Memory for New Wave of AI PCs

Micron Technology, Inc. announced the availability of a new category of clock driver memory with the launch of its Crucial DDR5 clocked unbuffered dual inline memory modules (CUDIMM) and clocked small outline dual memory modules (CSODIMM), which are shipping in volume.

CSODIMM and CUDIMM DDR5

The JEDEC-standard solutions run at speeds up to 6,400MT/s (megatransfers per second), more than twice as fast as DDR4 ⁽¹⁾ and 15% faster than traditional non-clock-driver-based DDR5.⁽²⁾ Designed to provide more speed stability, faster downloads and better refresh rates, these solutions represent a completely new frontier of memory form factors for next-gen PCs. The company’s CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions are the industry’s 1st commercially available JEDEC-standard DDR5 CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions to hit the market since JEDEC standardized the specification earlier this year.

In addition, Intel Corp. has validated Micron DDR5 CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions up to capacities of 64GB for use with its Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2), which were launched on Oct. 10.

“As AI takes flight, a memory paradigm shift is needed to keep pace with unprecedented system performance requirements,” said Dinesh Bahal, corporate VP and GM, commercial products group, Micron. “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-gen 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. Representing an evolution of traditional UDIMMs, the new category of CUDIMMs and CSODIMMs feature a clock driver directly on the memory module to stabilize speeds. While most systems today rely on the clock from the CPU, using innovative engineering, the company 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 empower top PC manufacturers and integrators to begin adopting Micron’s clock driver-based memory into forthcoming PC platforms. Notably, the company is the 1st memory vendor to validate 32Gb die-based 64GB CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions for Intel Core Ultra desktop processors. This enables system capacities up to 256GB for AI PCs and high-end workstations, which demand high memory densities and performance.

“Micron and Intel have been working together to bring next-gen compute performance to the market,” said Dimitrios Ziakas, VP, memory and I/O technologies, Intel. “The powerful combination of Intel Core Ultra desktop processors and Micron’s latest clock driver-powered CUDIMM/CSODIMMs with up to massive 64GB capacities will be critical to helping propel the next wave of data-rich AI PCs to 6,400 MT/s speeds. By aligning our strategies and co-validating, we are offering the most advanced memory and CPU products to our customers and the market and accelerating ecosystem adoption of future-looking form factors.“

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.

Availability:

• Consumers will be able to purchase the CUDIMM and CSODIMM solutions in 16GB capacities through Crucial.com, which will come with a limited lifetime warranty. ⁽³⁾
• Capacities of 64GB will be available for purchase through the channel during 1H25.

With the addition of DDR-based CUDIMMs and CSODIMMs, the company continues to expand its memory portfolio with form factor and performance innovations to power next-gen PCs, including AI PCs, and increasingly demanding workloads.

⁽¹⁾ DDR5 6,400MT/s speeds are comparable to extreme-performance DDR4 memory speeds and 2x faster than maximum standard DDR4 speeds of 3,200MT/s.
⁽²⁾ Based on DDR5 running at maximum bandwidth of 5,600MT/s
⁽³⁾ Limited lifetime warranty valid everywhere except Austria, Belgium, France, and Germany, where warranty is valid for 10 years from the date of purchase.