X-bit labs

Hynix Samples Next-Generation Memory for Graphics Apps.

Category: Memory

by Anton Shilov

[ 12/07/2005 | 09:34 PM ]

Hynix Semiconductor, one of the world’s largest makers of memory, announced that it shortly begins to sample its GDDR4 memory chips and plans to start mass production of such components early in 2006. The company also disclosed its plans to boost the speed of GDDR4 in the second half of next year.

At this point Hynix is gearing up to provide leading developers of graphics processing units (GPUs) its 512Mb GDDR4 memory chips rated to work at up to 2.90GHz. Such memory chips will be mass produced in early 2006, which means that by mid-2006 graphics card designers may adopt such devices for products sold commercially.

Recently Samsung Electronics also announced sampling of GDDR4 with GPU developers, but Samsung’s chips operated at 2.50GHz and were of 256Mb capacity. The company, however, noted that it planned to push the speeds up to 2.80GHz by late 2005.

Hynix Semiconductor said it planned to introduce 3.60GHz GDDR4 memory chips by the second half of 2006, which may indicate that leading-edge next-generation graphics cards will have 115.2GB/s peak memory bandwidth, more than two times higher than they do today.