Samsung’s GDDR7 for next-gen GPUs: 54% faster than GDDR6X

Samsung plans to showcase its next-generation GDDR7 memory at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuit Conference 2024 in San Francisco next month. The company will hold a session titled “A 16Gb 37 Gb/s GDDR7 DRAM with PAM3 Optimized TRX Equalization and ZQ Calibration” to showcase its advanced memory solutions for the next generation of GPUs, as reported by TechRadar.

Samsung plans to increase DRAM speeds to 37Gbps, which would be an increase of over 50% over existing GDDR6X DRAM. Although they also have plans for GDDR6W with double the capacities and 64-bit DRAM, they are now focusing on the true next-gen standard. So far, Samsung is offering GDDR6 memory with speeds of up to 24Gbps, but NVIDIA’s RTX 4080 SUPER graphics card is expected to launch this week with at least 23.5Gbps.

A few months ago, Samsung announced that they had achieved speeds of up to 36Gbps internally with GDDR7 memory. It seems as though the company wants to continue to maximize the potential of next-generation memory modules. However, it remains questionable whether these faster speeds can be produced in sufficient quantities to meet the demands of upcoming gaming and AI GPU models. Nevertheless, one could expect the next generation of GPUs to reach speeds of 32-36 Gbps.

Below is the bandwidth that the 37 Gbps pin speeds would offer across multiple bus configurations:

• 512-bit – 2368 GB/s (2.3 TB/s)
• 384-bit – 1776 GB/s (1.7 TB/s)
• 320-bit – 1480 GB/s (1.5 TB/s)
• 256-bit – 1184 GB/s (1.2 TB/s)
• 192-bit – 888 GB/s
• 128-bit – 592 GB/s

The GDDR7 memory will offer 20% higher efficiency, which is particularly impressive considering that high-end GPUs consume a huge amount of power. The Samsung GDDR7 DRAM will include technologies specifically optimized for high-speed workloads. There will also be a low-voltage option designed for low-power applications such as laptops.

Source: TechRadar