Emerald City IT manufactures powerful, quiet, and durable computers for homes and businesses in Seattle, and Washington. Our computers are designed to offer superior peak performance and have a product lifetime guaranteed to exceed other computer stores in Washington State.
Samsung has detailed some of the technology that will allow its upcoming GDDR7 graphics memory (opens in new tab) to hit 36 Gbps at its annual tech day. That's a very healthy boost over the fastest current GDDR6 and GDDR6X memory.
That 36 Gbps figure is just the starting point, too. By comparison, GDDR6 kicked off at 14 Gbps. The key enabler for GDDR7's improved speed is revised use of PAM, or pulse-amplitude modulation, signalling to transfer data.
In simple terms, the zeroes and ones of binary computer data is transformed into electrical waveforms when being transmitted from, say, a graphics memory chip into a GPU. PAM-2 signalling, as implemented in GDDR6, allows one bit per transmission cycle, while GDDR6X used a version called PAM-4 which doubled that to two bits per cycle.
GDDR7 instead uses PAM-3 signalling with support for three bits per cycle, making it immediately 50% faster in terms of bandwidth at any given operating frequency. PAM-3 is also said to be more 25% more energy efficient, which is handy given the power hogs modern graphics cards are quickly becoming.
To put figures on the impact this will have on available bandwidth, the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (opens in new tab) with its 256-bit bus and 22.4 Gbps GDDR6X has 717GB/s of raw bandwidth. With GDDR7 running at 36 Gbps on that same 256-bit bus, you'd be looking at 1,152GB/s.
Or how about the RTX 4090 (opens in new tab) and its 21 Gbps GDDR6X running over a 384-bit bus? That adds up to 1,008GB/s of bandwidth. With GDDR7, the 4090 would rock 1,728GB/s. Nice.
As for when you can expect to see GDDR7 on a graphics card you can buy, it's unclear whether Nvidia's new RTX 40 series or AMD's RDNA 3 GPUs can support GDDR7 going forward. Earlier this year, there were rumours of RTX 40-series going with super-fast GDDR7 tech. But it and AMD's latest GPUs have stuck with GDDR6X and GDDR6 respectively as they finally hit the market.
We also recently reported on Samsung's new GDDR6W (opens in new tab) which doubles memory density and speed per memory package, so where exactly either new graphics memory fits in with tomorrow's GPU ranges is still very much up in the air.
Samsung has announced its brand-new GDDR6 memory that’s set to solve the requirement of “massive memory and increased computing power” typically required by a workstation for creating objects and environments in virtual spaces.
The company calls this the “industry’s first next-generation graphics DRAM technology”, which sees traditional GDDR6 products improved by adding an additional DRAM device to effectively double capacity and bandwidth, without the associated impacts you’d typically expect like a larger form factor.
Samsung hopes that GDDR6W will make these gains using the same energy footprint as GDDR6, which the chip maker hopes will allow customers to use the newer technology without having to make drastic changes to existing hardware.
Samsung GDDR6W
This is managed by what Samsung calls a Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP) technology.
The clever packaging also sees the traditional printed circuit board (PCB) replaced with a re-distribution layer, allowing for a more compact design with finer wiring patterns, seeing a typical package thickness reduce from 1.1mm to 0.7mm.
The stacking involved in the FOWLP construction is also said to cut manufacturing time and costs in a world where companies and consumers are looking to tighten their spending.
"With GDDR6W, we’re able to foster differentiated memory products that can satisfy various customer needs - a major step towards securing our leadership in the market," CheolMin Park, Vice President of New Business Planning, Samsung Electronics Memory Business, explained.
Samsung hopes to use its GDDR6W for AI and high-performance computing accelerators, but it has also announced plans to bring it into a smaller form factor to fit in devices like notebooks.
While the likes of AMD and Nvidia are yet to support GDDR6W, Samsung does plan to cooperate with its GPU partners to speed up the rollout.
In the past, chip companies such as AMD have dabbled in High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) instead of GDDR to increase memory bandwidth for GPUs. This vertically stacked memory boasts incredible bandwidth, but it’s a costly endeavor. AMD abandoned it in favor of GDDR memory after its ill-fated R9 Fury and Vega GPUs. Now Samsung has created a new type of GDDR6 memory it says is almost as fast as HBM without needing an interposer. Samsung says GDDR6W is the first “next-generation” DRAM technology, and that it will empower more realistic metaverse experiences.
Samsung took its existing GDDR6 platform and built it with Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP). With this technology, the memory die is mounted to a silicon wafer instead of a printed circuit board (PCB). Redistribution layers are fanned out around the chip allowing for more contacts and better heat dissipation. Memory chips are also double-stacked. Samsung says this has allowed it to increase bandwidth and capacity in the exact same footprint as before. Since there’s no increase in die size, its partners can drop GDDR6W into existing and future designs without any modifications. This will theoretically reduce manufacturing time and costs.
Samsung’s Fan-Out, Wafer-Level Packaging allows for a smaller package thanks to the absence of a PCB. (Credit: Samsung)
The new memory offers double the I/O and bandwidth of GDDR6. Using its existing 24Gb/s GDDR6 as an example, Samsung says the GDDR6W version has twice the I/O as there are more contact points. It also doubles capacity from 16Gb to 32Gb per chip. As shown above, the height of the FOWLP design is just 0.7mm, which is 36 percent lower than its DDR package. Even though I/O and bandwidth have been doubled, it says it has the same thermal properties as existing DDR6 designs.
Samsung says these advancements have allowed its GDDR6W design to compete with HBM2. It notes that second-generation HBM2 offers 1.6TB/s of bandwidth, with GDDR6W coming close with 1.4TB/s. However, that number from Samsung is using a 512-bit wide memory bus with 32GB of memory, which isn’t something found in current GPUs. Both the Nvidia RTX 4090 and the Radeon RX 7900 XTX have a 384-bit wide memory bus and offer just 24GB of GDDR6 memory. AMD uses GDDR6 while Nvidia has opted for the G6X variant made by Micron. Both cards have around 1TB/s of memory bandwidth, though, so Samsung’s offering is superior.
The big news here is that thanks to Samsung’s chip-stacking, half the memory chips are required to achieve the same amount of memory as current packaging. This could result in reduced manufacturing costs. Overall, its maximum transmission rate per pin of 22Gb/s is very close to GDDR6X’s 21Gb/s. So the gains in the future probably won’t be for maximum performance, but rather memory capacity. You could argue nobody needs a GPU with 48GB of memory, but perhaps when we’re gaming at 16K that’ll change.
As far as products go, Samsung says it’ll be introducing GDDR6W soon in small form factor packages such as notebooks. It’s also working with partners to include it in AI accelerators and such. It’s unclear whether AMD or Nvidia will adopt it, but if they do it’ll likely be far in the future. That’s just because both companies are already manufacturing their current boards with GDDR6/X designs, so we doubt they’d swap until a new architecture arrives.
Dubbed the GDDR6W, the chips use traditional BGA packaging and will end up in mainstream applications.
At the moment, GDDR6 and GDDR6X chips integrate a DRAM device with a 32-bit interface, while the GDDR6W chip has two DRAM devices and two 32-bit interfaces. The capacity doubles from 16Gb to 32Gb and the interface width from 32-bits to 64-bits.
Samsung sang that it managed to pull this feat off using its Fan-Out Wafer-Level Packaging (FOWLP) technology that replaces traditional printed circuit board with a redistribution layer (RDL) that is thinner and has finer wiring.
Samsung's GDDR6W devices generally use the same protocols as GDDR6 but offer higher performance and capacity. A 32Gb GDDR6W memory chip could deliver a peak bandwidth of 176 GBps, up from 88 GBps in the case of a regular GDDR6 SGRAM chip. Meanwhile, building a 32Gb memory chip using two 16Gb memory devices might be cheaper than building a 32Gb monolithic memory device.
Samsung's GDDR6W should be cheaper than high-bandwidth memory like HBM2E in terms of memory stack production and usage since GDDR6W does not require expensive interposers.
Samsung sang that a 512-bit GDDR6W memory subsystem (which uses eight chips) can provide a system-level bandwidth of up to 1.40 GBps at a 22 GTps data transfer rate. By contrast, a 4096-bit HBM2E memory subsystem offers up to 1.60 TBps at a 3.2 GTps data transfer rate but at a considerably higher price.
AMD and Nvidia have yet to support GDDR6W, but Samsung hinted that it will be working with its 'GPU partners' without disclosing who it was talking about.
"By applying an advanced packaging technology to GDDR6, GDDR6W delivers twice the memory capacity and performance of similar-sized packages," said CheolMin Park, Vice President of New Business Planning, at Samsung Electronics Memory Business. "With GDDR6W, we are able to foster differentiated memory products that can satisfy various customer needs – a major step towards securing our leadership in the market."
Zotac just dropped the prices on a bunch of its graphics cards for Cyber Monday. Whether you are going for a budget build with an RTX 3050 or want to push 4K gaming with an RTX 3070 Ti, Zotac has a handful of options at their lowest prices ever.
The graphics card sales (opens in new tab) for Cyber Monday have been pretty good, but the prices still hover around MSRP. Zotac's cards are the same way. The best deal here is the RTX 3060 Ti Amp White. It's both a nice aesthetic pick and sweet spot for performance and price. The 1,755MHz boost on it is a nice addition if you want to get a little closer to maxing 1440p games out.
We've gathered all the Zotac GPU deals below and will keep this updated as we near Cyber Monday proper.
Zotac's RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3070 Cyber Monday deals have been shifting in and out of stock. The 3070 Ti AMP Holo is the fastest of the bunch and will run you $599.99. A 3070 Ti is the Nvidia-defined 'sweet spot' between an RTX 3080 and 3070, but it runs short of a RX 6800. These are by no means bad deals, but you'll need to weight how important Nvidia-speific features like DLSS are for you.
This RTX 3070 Ti from Zotac is a step up from the other similar cards, but not by a ton. A card like this can push out solid frame rates at 1440p and 4K.
This RTX 3070 Ti from Zotac isn't its fastest card, but this price makes it a reasonable choice. You won't see a massive difference in gaming performance for the little bit of savings. Pick this up if you primarily play games at 1440p or want to push 4K.
The RTX 3060 range of graphics cards has a couple of good Zotac options right now. Your big choice here is between 8GB of DDR6 VRAM or 12GB. More VRAM will help you crank up graphics settings, especially at 4K. Both cards will do great with 1080p and 1440p games, if that's all you aim for.
(opens in new tab)
Zotac RTX 3060 Ti Amp White | 8GB GDDR6 | 4,864 shaders | 1,755MHz Boost | $409.99 $389.99 at Newegg (save $20 w/ promo code BFDBY2A787) (opens in new tab) Another RTX 3060 Ti under MSRP thanks to another Zotac promo code. But this time you get both a funky white aesthetic and a pretty healthy GPU overclock to boot. The RTX 3060 Ti is still a great 1440p gaming card even this far down the road after release.
Zotac Gaming RTX 3060 Twin Edge OC | 12GB DDR6 | 3,485 shaders | 1,807MHz boost| $410.99 $349.99 at Amazon (save $61) (opens in new tab) Zotac's RTX 3060 is at one of its lowest prices ever, which, unfortunately, is still a bit over MSRP. This card isn't a serious performer compared to the 3060 Ti cards on sale at the moment, but it's not far off. If the budget is tight and you can't spend a little more, this isn't a bad pick.
In the RTX 3050 arena, there's really only one card at its lowest price. The Zotac RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC nudges right under where you'll find 3060s at. If you are a tight budget and want a card that will fuel games at 1080p, I'd consider this.
(opens in new tab)
Zotac Gaming RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC | 8GB DDR6 | 2,560 shaders | 1,807MHz boost| $329.99 $269.99 at Amazon (save $61) (opens in new tab) Another Zotac graphics card at a very low price, but not low enough to beat MSRP. If you need a cheap card for 1080p gaming, an RTX 3050 is a nice choice. You get the benefits of DLSS and a little more performance over AMD's offerings at this price range.