Micron confirms GDDR6X for Geforce RTX 3090 – up to 1 TB / s memory bandwidth

It has long been rumored that Nvidia’s upcoming graphics card in the Geforce RTX 3000 series would use GDDR6X-type memory, even though the memory type has not actually been confirmed to exist. This will now change when the memory manufacturer Micron steps forward and not only confirms the name of the new technology, but also a graphics card called RTX 3090.

A data sheet published by Micron (PDF) entitled “The Demand for Ultra-Bandwidth Solutions” contains an example card called RTX 3090 with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. Here, the total bandwidth of the memory is also estimated by Micron to reach the 1 TB / s limit, with an expected total bandwidth of 912–1,008 GB / s depending on the clock frequency.

In Summer of 2020, Micron announced the next evolution of Ultra-Bandwidth Solutions in GDDR6X. Working closely with NVIDIA on their Ampere generation of graphics cards, Micron’s 8Gb GDDR6X will deliver up to 21Gb/s (data rate per pin) in 2020.

Where Micron currently talks about memory circuits of 8 Gb (1 GB) and total memory amount of 12 GB on the RTX 3090, we have recently seen pictures of what is said to be an RTX 3090 from Colorful – whose memories are adorned with the Micron logo. The memory capsules are eleven in number, on the back of the card, which indicates the same number on the other side of the printed circuit board – a configuration that results in 22 GB of GDDR6X memory.

For the future, Micron is also talking about GDDR6X circuits of 16 Gb next year, with speeds up to 24 Gb / s – up from the up to 21 Gb / s circuits available for the Geforce RTX 3000 series and its launch. According to Videocardz, the information hits four birds with one stone, including the naming of next-generation graphics chips from Nvidia, the GDDR6X memory technology and its existence, the model name RTX 3090 and the card’s total bandwidth.

Slightly in the shadows, in the same document, the company also announces the successor to HBM2e, HBMnext. Further details regarding the memory technology in addition to the name are not given, which means that it may be an evolution of HBM2e or a regular sequel. Exactly what the future will show, but the data speeds will in any case step up from 2.4 to 3.2 Gb / s during the year 2022.