Blazing-Fast Samsung 24Gbps GDDR6 Memory Is Primed For Next-Gen GeForce And Radeon GPUs
In yet another sign that next-generation graphics cards will be arriving on the scene relatively soon, Samsung has now formally launched the memory chips that will go into high-end offerings in the next round of GPUs. These are the same lightning-fast 24Gbps GDDR6 DRAM chips that Samsung announced last December, which leaves the current crop of GDDR6X memory in the rear view mirror.
The new DRAM is built on Samsung's third-generation 10-nanometer class (1z) process using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology.
"Engineered with an innovative circuit design and a highly advanced insulating material (High-K Metal Gate; HKMG) that minimizes current leakage, Samsung’s 24Gbps GDDR6 will deliver 30 percent faster speeds compared to the previous 18Gbps product," Samsung says.
As a point of reference, what that speed bump equates to is being able to transfer up to 1.1TB of data (around 275 Full HD 1080p movies) in a single second. Samsung's 24Gbps GDDR6 is also fully compliant with JEDEC's specifications and compatible across all GPU designs, the company says, so it could find its way to range of graphics products.
In its announcement, Samsung specifically references high-end, next-generation graphics cards, as well as laptops, game consoles, artificial intelligence applications, and high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
"Graphics DRAM is increasingly being sought for use beyond PCs, laptops and game consoles, extending into other graphics-intensive applications like HPC, autonomous driving and electric cars. Addressing these emerging markets, Samsung’s GDDR6 will enable seamless 4K and 8K video playback, while supporting demanding AI accelerator workloads," Samsung says.
We have little doubt that the GeForce RTX 40 series and Radeon RX 7000 series will utilize GDDR6 memory on at least some of the upcoming SKUs. The question is, where does this leave GDDR6X? NVIDIA employs 21Gbps GDDR6X memory on its GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, 19.5Gbps GDDR6X on the 3090, and 19Gbps GDDR6X on the 3080 Ti, 3080, and 3070 Ti. Everything below uses GDDR6.
Samsung's speed gain and today's announcement suggest that the top tier cards next round could use GDDR6 instead of GDDR6X. That may depend on what performance bumps Micron can deliver on its GDDR6X DRAM stack. As of last April, Micron's GDDR6X performance roadmap extended to 24Gbps as well.
In any event, Samsung says customers are in the process of running verification tests on its 24Gbps GDDR6, and plans to commercialize its DRAM in line with GPU platform launches.
