Friday, May 24th 2024
NVIDIA Reportedly Having Issues with Samsung's HBM3 Chips Running Too Hot
According to Reuters, NVIDIA is having some major issues with Samsung's HBM3 chips, as NVIDIA hasn't managed to finalise its validations of the chips. Reuters are citing multiple sources that are familiar with the matter and it seems like Samsung is having some serious issues with its HMB3 chips if the sources are correct. Not only do the chips run hot, which itself is a big issue due to NVIDIA already having issues cooling some of its higher-end products, but the power consumption is apparently not where it should be either. Samsung is said to have tried to get its HBM3 and HBM3E parts validated by NVIDIA since sometime in 2023 according to Reuter's sources, which suggests that there have been issues for at least six months, if not longer.
The sources claim there are issues with both the 8- and 12-layer stacks of HMB3E parts from Samsung, suggesting that NVIDIA might only be able to supply parts from Micron and SK Hynix for now, the latter whom has been supplying HBM3 chips to NVIDIA since the middle of 2022 and HBM3E chips since March of this year. It's unclear if this is a production issue at Samsung's DRAM Fabs, a packaging related issue or something else entirely. The Reuter's piece goes on to speculating about Samsung not having had enough time to develop its HBM parts compared its competitors and that it's a rushed product, but Samsung issued a statement to the publication that it's a matter of customising the product for its customer's needs. Samsung also said that it's "the process of optimising its products through close collaboration with customers" without going into which customer(s). Samsung issued a further statement saying that "claims of failing due to heat and power consumption are not true" and that testing was going as expected.
Source:
Reuters
The sources claim there are issues with both the 8- and 12-layer stacks of HMB3E parts from Samsung, suggesting that NVIDIA might only be able to supply parts from Micron and SK Hynix for now, the latter whom has been supplying HBM3 chips to NVIDIA since the middle of 2022 and HBM3E chips since March of this year. It's unclear if this is a production issue at Samsung's DRAM Fabs, a packaging related issue or something else entirely. The Reuter's piece goes on to speculating about Samsung not having had enough time to develop its HBM parts compared its competitors and that it's a rushed product, but Samsung issued a statement to the publication that it's a matter of customising the product for its customer's needs. Samsung also said that it's "the process of optimising its products through close collaboration with customers" without going into which customer(s). Samsung issued a further statement saying that "claims of failing due to heat and power consumption are not true" and that testing was going as expected.
25 Comments on NVIDIA Reportedly Having Issues with Samsung's HBM3 Chips Running Too Hot
The Vega 56 with a flashed 64 bios was known for that. Long term HBM would degrade.
"According to Choi, the company's head of packaging and testing, SK Hynix's proprietary MR-MUF is a key technology in HBM packaging. MR-MUF reduces chip stacking pressure by 6%, increases productivity by fourfold by reducing process time, and improves heat dissipation by 45% compared to earlier technologies.
SK Hynix recently released an advanced MR-MUF that improves heat dissipation by 10% through the use of a new protective material while keeping the existing advantages of MR-MUF, Choi said. Advanced MR-MUF is an optimum solution for high stacking, and technology development for 16-high stacking is underway. The company plans to utilize advanced MR-MUF achieving 16-high HBM4, while preemptively reviewing hybrid bonding technology."
www.digitimes.com/news/a20240502VL206/sk-hynix-2025-hbm-production.html
"SK hynix currently controls roughly 46% - 49% of HBM market, and its share is not expected to drop significantly in 2025, according to market tracking firm TrendForce. By contrast, Micron's share on HBM memory market is between 4% and 6%."
SK hynix Reports That 2025 HBM Memory Supply Has Nearly Sold Out (anandtech.com)
But just remember when Samsung SSDs were failing. All of a sudden major tech sites weren't really reporting it, even when Samsung admitted it and released new firmwares that fixed the issues - it was more important to have a spotless reputation and tons of angry customers with failed SSDs than a wide public release that all users should check if their firmware is updated. :p