Headlines - AMD's next-gen GPUs to feature GDDR5

[HEXUS]

AMD has today confirmed that its forthcoming Radeon HD 4800 series of GPUs will feature GDDR5 memory.

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[SiM]

But will it make a difference? I doubt it... Most cards still use GDDR3

[kalniel]

Means they can up memory bandwidth for the same sized interface... but unless their ROPs/texture units are up to scratch it won't do a huge amount.

Good news for GPGPU stuff though.

[Noxvayl]

It might not make as big a difference as AMD would want you to believe but with lower power consumption its a green feather in there cap.

I think the reason nVidia have kept to GDDR3 is because its heavily optimised and cheaper to produce. GDDR4 was slightly better than GDDR3 but not enough to make a statement but I do hope that GDDR5 is that much better than GDDR3 because we need some sort of advancement in that area as its been almost static for years.

I do want a solid stand from AMD to bring a bit more balance to the market because as it stands nVidia monopolise the GPU market and Intel the CPU market which although isn't currently a bad thing it could turn out to be in the future if no-one is able to rival them.

[latrosicarius]

when they release this, depending on the reviews, it could be the first time in 4 years where i may even consider buying an ATI card.

what's interesting is the HDMI output... if it has audio too, does that mean this new graphics card will be a soundcard too?

[SiM]

they don't have a sound card, but they automatically pass through audio... even my hd 2600 pro can do that

[DeSean]

But will it make a difference? I doubt it... Most cards still use GDDR3

Most cards still do, but mainly because "most cards" = Geforce 8 series if you look at the Valve user survey.

If the astronomical GDDR5 speeds that are being rumoured are true, it will certainly be an advantage for AMD. However further rumours state that AMD's most powerful graphics product will still be beaten by Nvidia's soon to be released next generation. So it's a case of wait and see.

[SiM]

9800GTX and the GX2 has ddr3 too

[Azza]

But will it make a difference? I doubt it... Most cards still use GDDR3

Sure will.


Crazy amount of bandwidth will come from them even if they used 1gb on a 256bit bus.


Rumour is that the speed will be 3.9ghz and Qimonda make them at 3.6 GHz, 4.0 GHz, and 4.5 GHz clock speeds so 3.9ghz wouldnt be a suprise really.

1gb of GDDR5 at 3.9ghz on a 512 bit bus would = a crazy amount of bandwidth. Plus they use less power which will mean you can give em more power and overclock.

[SiM]

Sure will.


Crazy amount of bandwidth will come from them even if they used 1gb on a 256bit bus.


Rumour is that the speed will be 3.9ghz and Qimonda make them at 3.6 GHz, 4.0 GHz, and 4.5 GHz clock speeds so 3.9ghz wouldnt be a suprise really.

1gb of GDDR5 at 3.9ghz on a 512 bit bus would = a crazy amount of bandwidth. Plus they use less power which will mean you can give em more power and overclock.

Don't the bus speed and the timings make a bigger difference anyway?
And why is GDDR3 > GDDR4 if that is the case?

Eventually GDDR5 will become faster, however the first cards with it might not be

[Biscuit]

isnt the reason for the delay of application of these ram types the same as the delay of DDR3... timings. Just guessing TBH.

[badass]

GDDR5 is more like desktop DDR3 - Desktop DDR3 is a huge improvement over Desktop DDR2

IIRC GDDR 3 and 4 are somewhere between DDR2 and DDR3

[Biscuit]

GDDR5 is more like desktop DDR3 - Desktop DDR3 is a huge improvement over Desktop DDR2

IIRC GDDR 3 and 4 are somewhere between DDR2 and DDR3

Correct me if im wrong but i havent seen any benchmarks proving DDR3 to be a *vast* improvement over DDR2. It all seems to be numbers and price tags so far.

[kalniel]

GDDR5 is more like desktop DDR3 - Desktop DDR3 is a huge improvement over Desktop DDR2

IIRC GDDR 3 and 4 are somewhere between DDR2 and DDR3

What criteria are you using to say they are like the desktop? Surely not performance - I thought GDDR is a huge amount faster than DDR. The technology for GDDR is almost completely unrelated to DDR equivalents.

[dfour]

GDDR5 support will be nice and all that extra bandwidth too, but wasnt it shown that games like crysis dont care that much about bandwidth and more about shader speed??

[badass]

Correct me if im wrong but i havent seen any benchmarks proving DDR3 to be a *vast* improvement over DDR2. It all seems to be numbers and price tags so far.

Forget real world performance for a second. The only DDR3 chipsets are for FSB constrained Intel CPU's and therefore pretty pointless. The raw bandwidth available to DDR3 is currently about twice that of DDR2. In a graphics card that interfaces directly with the chips, that will translate to a huge improvement.