Samsung develops world’s fastest memory – GDDR5

Posted at: 11:29am 3rd December 2007 by Ben Hardwidge

New graphics memory promises lower power consumption and data transfer at six gigabits per second

We’ve only seen a handful of graphics cards using GDDR4 memory so far, but Samsung is already on the case with the next generation of GDDR5 memory, and claims that it’s already sent samples out to the ‘major graphics processor companies.’

Of course, Samsung isn’t the first company to start sampling GDDR5 memory. Both Hynix and Qimonda also announced similar parts in November, but Samsung’s memory has gone one step further by offering a data transfer rate of 6Gb/sec, over the standard 5Gb/sec. As such, Samsung is boldly claiming that it’s offering ‘the world’s fastest memory,’ and says that it’s ‘capable of transmitting moving images and associated data at 24 gigabytes per second.’

As well as increasing the bandwidth, GDDR5 memory also has comparatively low power requirements, and Samsung claims that its memory operates at just 1.5V.

Samsung is currently sampling 512Mb GDDR5 chips (16Mb x 32), and Mueez Deen, Samsung’s marketing director for graphics memory, said that the memory ‘will enable the kind of graphics hardware performance that will spur software developers to deliver a new level of eye-popping games.’ However, we may have to wait a while before GDDR5 becomes widespread. Samsung estimates that the memory will become ‘the de facto standard in the top performing segment of the market’ in 2010, when the company says it will account for ‘more than 50 percent of the high-end PC graphics market.’