SK Hynix, a leading memory manufacturer from South Korea, has announced that they have commenced mass production of the 238-layer 3D NAND memory chips. With a transfer interface capability of up to 2400 MT/s, these memory chips can be used for high-speed next-generation SSDs.
The 238-layer memory chips will have a 34% higher manufacturing efficiency compared to the 176-layer chips, potentially leading to lower production costs. Additionally, the 2400 MT/s transfer speed represents an almost twofold increase from the previous generation’s 1600 MT/s.
For reference, the current best sequential read/write speed with 1600 MT/s 3D NAND chips is approximately 10GB/s. This is still far from the maximum capability of PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs, which can reach 16GB/s. Therefore, memory chips with higher transfer capabilities are required.
In theory, memory chips with 238-layer 3D NAND and 2400 MT/s could achieve a sequential read/write speed of 18.75 GB/s. However, this will depend on other factors such as communication protocols, latency, and device-related considerations. Hence, this can only be confirmed once the mass-produced products become available.
SK Hynix plans to supply the 238-layer 3D NAND chips, which also offer lower power consumption advantages, to smartphones initially. They will then expand their offerings to their entire product portfolio, including PCIe 5.0 SSDs and high-capacity server SSDs, in the future.
