Samsung begins mass projection of 18Gbps 16Gb memory

Samsung has officially announced that the company has started to mass produce the world’s first 16 gigabit (2GB) GDDR6 memory modules, delivering 18 Gbps memory speeds per pin, doubling both the capacity and speed offered by GDDR5 memory. 

Most of today’s GDDR5 based graphics cards utilise 8Gb (1GB) 8Gbps memory, making this change a significant upgrade for the industry. In effect, a GDDR5-based memory solution could be replaced with half as many GDDR6 chips while still offering a performance advantage, thanks to the fact that Samsung’s latest memory chips provide a greater than 2x increase in bandwidth per pin. 

This increase in memory/performance per chip will allow more memory to be fitted into smaller form factors and larger amounts of memory bandwidth to be available on high-end product. Low-end products will also benefit from a lower overall component count by moving to GDDR6, allowing some products to be made with smaller memory buses while offering higher performance (could lower GPU die size).

When it comes to power savings, Samsung states that their 16Gb 18Gbps GDDR6 chips will operate at 1.35V, delivering a 35% energy saving over standard 1.55V GDDR5 memory. These power savings will lower system power consumption and potentially allow more power to be given to other parts of the system to enhance performance.      

Samsung has officially announced that the company has started to mass produce the world’s first 16 gigabit (2GB) GDDR6 memory modules, delivering 18 Gbps memory speeds per pin, doubling both the capacity and speed offered by GDDR5 memory. 

Most of today’s GDDR5 based graphics cards utilise 8Gb (1GB) 8Gbps memory, making this change a significant upgrade for the industry. In effect, a GDDR5-based memory solution could be replaced with half as many GDDR6 chips while still offering a performance advantage, thanks to the fact that Samsung’s latest memory chips provide a greater than 2x increase in bandwidth per pin. 

This increase in memory/performance per chip will allow more memory to be fitted into smaller form factors and larger amounts of memory bandwidth to be available on high-end product. Low-end products will also benefit from a lower overall component count by moving to GDDR6, allowing some products to be made with smaller memory buses while offering higher performance (could lower GPU die size).

When it comes to power savings, Samsung states that their 16Gb 18Gbps GDDR6 chips will operate at 1.35V, delivering a 35% energy saving over standard 1.55V GDDR5 memory. These power savings will lower system power consumption and potentially allow more power to be given to other parts of the system to enhance performance.