Samsung’s new GDDR5 enables graphics cards with 32 GB of video memory

Stacked and closely integrated memory circuits with a super-wide memory bus are apparently on the agenda for the next generation of graphics processors – at least from AMD. This does not mean that the GDDR5 standard is ready to be passed on to the past, but higher capacities and clock frequencies are to be expected.

Now Korean Samsung has developed a new GDDR5 memory that takes a step up at both points. First of all, each memory capsule has a record high capacity of 8 Gb (1 GB), where a total of two can be connected over a 32-bit connection. This provides the ability to create a graphics card with up to 32 GB of video memory together with a 512-bit memory bus.

In addition, the memory is manufactured using a 20-nanometer technology, which allows Samsung to increase the clock frequency to a full 2.0 GHz (8.0 GHz efficiently). With the previously mentioned bus width, this gives a theoretical bandwidth of as much as 512 GB / s, alternatively 256 GB / s with more modest 256 bits in, for example, Nvidia GM204 and Geforce GTX 980.

Mass production of Samsung’s new 8 Gb GDDR5 memory will begin immediately and can thus be expected to find its way into finished graphics cards later in the year.