Communications of the ACM
New Gpu Memory Standards to Supercharge Graphics
The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association has approved new memory standards that should serve to improve graphics on next-generation personal computers and mobile devices.
Credit: Gordon Mah Ung
The increasing popularity of life-like games and virtual reality technology is pushing the computing industry to develop better graphics technology. The leading manufacturers are making significant changes to chip designs to improve graphics, with an emphasis on developing faster ways for graphical processing units (GPUs) to draw up and display images to users.
Meanwhile, the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association in January approved new memory standards that should improve graphics for next-generation personal computers (PCs) and mobile devices, and users should see better GPUs and system performance.
The GDDR5X is off-package memory and easier to implement alongside GPUs, making it ideal for low-end graphics chips.
HBM 2.0 (HBM2) makes it harder for external graphics card makers to use because it is integrated inside the GPU package, but this also makes it faster, says Mercury Research analyst Dean McCarron. "With HBM2, there are multiple chips stacked, and instead of increasing the frequency, you are widening the interface," says Insight 64 analyst Nathan Brookwood.
Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA are members of JEDEC, which defines specifications for memory in PCs, and they all back both standards.
Samsung has started manufacturing HBM2 modules, while rival Micron plans to start producing GDDR5X memory in large volumes later this year.
From IDG News Service
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