SK hynix is aiming to have its HBM4 memory tape-out in Q4 2024, ready for NVIDIA’s next-gen Rubin R100 AI GPU coming in 2025.
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In a new report from ZDnet, we’re learning that SK hynix is nearing the final stage of commercializing its next-generation HBM4 memory, with the design drawings to be transferred to the manufacturing process, or “tape out”. According to ZDnet’s industry sources, SK hynix plans to complete the tape out of its HBM4 for NVIDIA in October, so we’re just weeks away.
HBM4 offers a huge 40% increase in bandwidth, and a reduced power consumption of a rather incredible 70% to HBM3E, the fastest memory in the world. HBM4 density will be 1.3x higher, with all of these advancements combined, the leap in performance and efficiency is a key driver in NVIDIA’s continued AI GPU dominance.
NVIDIA says that its next-gen Rubin AI GPUs and their respective platforms will be available in 2026, while a Rubin Ultra AI GPU offering will be unleashed in 2027. NVIDIA also confirmed that its next-gen Rubin AI GPUs will use next-gen HBM4 memory.
We’re expecting the next-gen NVIDIA Rubin R100 AI GPUs to use a 4x reticle design (compared to Blackwell with 3.3x reticle design) and made on TSMC’s bleeding-edge CoWoS-L packaging technology on the new N3 process node. TSMC recently talked about up to 5.5x reticle size chips arriving in 2026, featuring a 100 x 100mm substrate that would handle 12 HBM sites, versus 8 HBM sites on current-gen 80 x 80mm packages.
TSMC will be shifting to a new SoIC design that will allow larger than 8x reticle size on a bigger 120 x 120mm package configuration, but as Wccftech points out, these are still being planned, so we can probably expect somewhere around the 4x reticle size for Rubin R100 AI GPUs.