It looks like DRAM and High Bandwidth Memory aren’t the only PC-based components that are going to be updated in the near future. This time round, Samsung has announced that it expects GDDR6 to arrive in 2018. The memory standard will succeed the widely used GDDR5 and GDDR5X synchronous graphics memories.
Contrary to earlier rumours, GDDR6 will not be introduced this year. According to Samsung’s presentation slides, GDDR6 is said offer bandwidth speeds of more than 14Gbps (up to 16Gbps according to some); which is significantly higher when compared against the 12Gbps GDDR5X memory standard. With these kind of bandwidth speeds, sources expect the upcoming memory standard to boast memory bandwidth speeds of up to 512GBps via a 256-bit memory bus and up to 786GBps on a 384-bit wide memory bus.
Bandwidths speeds aren’t the only improvements that will be coming with GDDR6 though. The next generation memory controller is also said to feature improved power consumption by up to 20% when compared to GDDR5X. In addition, GDDR6 also features LP4X, which is a new method that allows the memory controller to be more efficient in managing the balance between voltage and clock speeds.
What this means for you, gamers and PC enthusiasts out there, is to expect faster and more efficient graphics cards in the coming years. That said, in our previous report, we’ve mentioned that HBM3 would be introduced with low cost of production in mind, so it would be interesting to see how GDDR6 would take the edge off the upcoming next generation High Bandwidth Memory when both are made available to consumers.
(Source: TechPowerUp, Digital Trends)
