Could this be the first picture of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU? This picture, coupled with a specs sheet by notebook OEM Clevo, seems to suggest so, thanks to a new video by Moore's Law is Dead. The chip is noticeably more rectangular than the Ada "AD104," and is labelled N22W-ES-A1. It is an engineering sample. Cross-referencing "N22W" with the Clevo specs-sheet for a next-generation laptop mainboard, points to the possibility that the chip is indeed based on a next-gen silicon by NVIDIA. The board design has to undergo a significant change, due to the major change in the pin-map of the fiberglass substrate brought about by the switch to the new GDDR7 memory type.

The GeForce "Blackwell" generation comes in several GPU silicon sizes, and the RTX 5080 Laptop GPU is expected to be based on the "GB203" chip, which is expected to power the desktop RTX 5080 and possibly some SKUs in even the RTX 5070 series, such as the "RTX 5070 Ti." It is rumored to feature as many as 8,192 CUDA cores, and a 256-bit wide GDDR7 memory interface. NVIDIA is expected to unveil the GeForce "Blackwell" generation at CES 2025.

NVIDIA is gearing up for an exciting showcase at CES 2025, where its CEO, Jensen Huang, will take the stage and talk about, hopefully, future "Blackwell" products. According to Wccftech's sources, the anticipated GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 graphics cards should arrive at CES 2025 in January. The flagship RTX 5090 is rumored to come equipped with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory running at 28 Gbps. Meanwhile, the RTX 5080 looks very interesting with reports of its impressive 16 GB of GDDR7 memory running at 32 Gbps. This advancement comes after we previously believed that the RTX 5080 model is going to feature 28 Gbps GDDR7 memory. However, the newest rumors suggest that we are in for a surprise, as the massive gap between RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 compute cores will be filled... with a faster memory.

The more budget-friendly RTX 5070 is also set for a CES debut, featuring 12 GB of memory. This card aims to deliver solid performance for gamers who want high-quality graphics without breaking the bank, targeting the mid-range segment. We are very curious about pricing of these models and how they would fit in the current market. As anticipation builds for CES 2025, we are eager to see how these innovations will impact gaming experiences and creative workflows in the coming year. Stay tuned for more updates as the event approaches!

Thanks to the renowned NVIDIA hardware leaker kopite7Kimi on X, we are getting information about the final versions of NVIDIA's first upcoming wave of GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" graphics cards. The two leaked GPUs are the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, which now feature a more significant gap between xx80 and xx90 SKUs. For starters, we have the highest-end GeForce RTX 5090. NVIDIA has decided to use the GB202-300-A1 die and enabled 21,760 FP32 CUDA cores on this top-end model. Accompanying the massive 170 SM GPU configuration, the RTX 5090 has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, with each GDDR7 die running at 28 Gbps. This translates to 1,568 GB/s memory bandwidth. All of this is confined to a 600 W TGP.

When it comes to the GeForce RTX 5080, NVIDIA has decided to further separate its xx80 and xx90 SKUs. The RTX 5080 has 10,752 FP32 CUDA cores paired with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus. With GDDR7 running at 28 Gbps, the memory bandwidth is also halved at 784 GB/s. This SKU uses a GB203-400-A1 die, which is designed to run within a 400 W TGP power envelope. For reference, the RTX 4090 has 68% more CUDA cores than the RTX 4080. The rumored RTX 5090 has around 102% more CUDA cores than the rumored RTX 5080, which means that NVIDIA is separating its top SKUs even more. We are curious to see at what price point NVIDIA places its upcoming GPUs so that we can compare generational updates and the difference between xx80 and xx90 models and their widened gaps.

NVIDIA is on the brink of finalizing its next-generation "Blackwell" graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080. Sources close to BenchLife indicate that NVIDIA is targeting September for the official design specification finalization of both models. This timeline hints at a possible unveiling at CES 2025, with a market release shortly after. The RTX 5090 is rumored to boast a staggering 550 W TGP, a significant 22% increase from its predecessor, the RTX 4090. Meanwhile, the RTX 5080 is expected to draw 350 W, a more modest 9.3% bump from the current RTX 4080. Interestingly, NVIDIA appears to be developing "D" variants for both cards, which are likely tailored for the Chinese market to comply with export regulations.

Regarding raw power, the RTX 5090 is speculated to feature 24,576 CUDA cores paired with 512-bit GDDR7 memory. The RTX 5080, while less mighty, is still expected to pack a punch with 10,752 CUDA cores and 256-bit GDDR7 memory. As NVIDIA prepares to launch these powerhouses, rumors suggest the RTX 4090D may be discontinued by December 2024, paving the way for its successor. We are curious to see how the power consumption is handled and if these cards are packed efficiently within the higher power envelope. Some rumors indicate that the RTX 5090 could reach 600 watts at its peak, while RTX 5080 reaches 400 watts. However, that is just a rumor for now. As always, until NVIDIA makes an official announcement, these details should be taken with a grain of salt.

In a recent event hosted by Chinese laptop manufacturer Hasee, company's chairman Wu Haijun unveiled exciting details about NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 5060 "Blackwell" laptop GPU. Attending the event was industry insider Golden Pig Upgrade, who managed to catch some details of the card set to launch next year. The RTX 5060 is expected to be the first in the market to feature GDDR7 memory, a move that aligns with earlier leaks suggesting NVIDIA's entire Blackwell lineup would adopt this new standard. This upgrade is anticipated to deliver substantial boosts in bandwidth and possibly increased VRAM capacities in other SKUs. Perhaps most intriguing is the reported performance of the RTX 5060. Wu said this laptop SKU could offer performance comparable to the current RTX 4070 laptop GPU. It's said to exceed the RTX 4070 in ray tracing scenarios and match or come close to its rasterization performance.

This leap in capabilities is made even more impressive by the chip's reduced power consumption, with a maximum TGP of 115 W compared to the RTX 4060's 140 W. The reported power efficiency gains are not exclusive to RTX 5060. Wu suggests that the entire Blackwell lineup will see significant reductions in power draw, potentially lowering overall system power consumption by 40 to 50 watts in many Blackwell models. While specific technical details remain limited, it's believed the RTX 5060 will utilize the GB206 GPU die paired with 8 GB of GDDR7 memory, likely running at 28 Gbps in its initial iteration.

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it introduced the industry's best-performing GDDR7, a next-generation graphics memory product. The development of GDDR7 in March comes amid growing interest by global customers in the AI space in the DRAM product that meets both specialized performance for graphics processing and fast speed. The company said that it will start volume production in the third quarter.

The new product comes with the operating speed of 32 Gbps, a 60% improvement from the previous generation and the speed can grow up to 40 Gbps depending on the circumstances. When adopted for the high-end graphics cards, the product can also process data of more than 1.5 TB per second, equivalent to 300 Full-HD movies (5 GB each), in a second.

TrendForce reports that a recovery in demand for general servers—coupled with an increased production share of HBM by DRAM suppliers—has led suppliers to maintain their stance on hiking prices. As a result, the ASP of DRAM in the third quarter is expected to continue rising, with an anticipated increase of 8-13%. The price of conventional DRAM is expected to rise by 5-10%, showing a slight contraction compared to the increase in the second quarter.

TrendForce notes that buyers were more conservative about restocking in the second, and inventory levels on both the supplier and buyer sides did not show significant changes. Looking ahead to the third quarter, there is still room for inventory replenishment for smartphones and CSPs, and the peak season for production is soon to commence. Consequently, it is expected that smartphones and servers will drive an increase in memory shipments in the third quarter.

Competition among Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron is intensifying, with a focus on enhancing processing speed and efficiency in graphics DRAM (GDDR) for AI accelerators and cryptocurrency mining. Compared with High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), the GDDR7 has a faster data processing speed and a relatively low price. Since Nvidia is expected to use next-generation GDDR7 with its GeForce RTX50 Blackwell GPUs, competition will likely be as strong as the demand. We can see that by looking, for example, at the pace of new GDDR7 releases from the past two years.

In July 2022, Samsung Electronics developed the industry's first 32 Gbps GDDR7 DRAM, capable of processing up to 1.5 TB of data per second, a 1.4 times speed increase and 20% better energy efficiency compared to GDDR6. In February 2023, Samsung demonstrated its first GDDR7 DRAM with a pin rate of 37 Gbps. On June 4, Micron launched its new GDDR7 at Computex 2024, with speeds up to 32 Gbps, a 60% increase in bandwidth, and a 50% improvement in energy efficiency over the previous generation. Shortly after, SK Hynix introduced a 40 Gbps GDDR7, showcased again at Computex 2024, doubling the previous generation's bandwidth to 128 GB per second and improving energy efficiency by 40%.

The race is on for memory manufacturers to bring the next generation GDDR7 graphics memory into mass production. While rivals Samsung and Micron are aiming to have GDDR7 chips available in Q4 of 2024, South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix revealed at Computex 2024 that it won't kick off mass production until the first quarter of 2025. GDDR7 is the upcoming JEDEC standard for high-performance graphics memory, succeeding the current GDDR6 and GDDR6X specifications. The new tech promises significantly increased bandwidth and capacities to feed the appetites of next-wave GPUs and AI accelerators. At its Computex booth, SK Hynix showed off engineering samples of its forthcoming GDDR7 chips, with plans for both 16 Gb and 24 Gb densities.

The company is targeting blazing-fast 40 Gbps data transfer rates with its GDDR7 offerings, outpacing the 32 Gbps rates its competitors are starting with on 16 Gb parts. If realized, higher speeds could give SK Hynix an edge, at least initially. While trailing a quarter or two behind Micron and Samsung isn't ideal, SK Hynix claims having working samples now validates its design and allows partners to begin testing and qualification. Mass production timing for standardized memories also doesn't necessarily indicate a company is "late" - it simply means another vendor secured an earlier production window with a specific customer. The GDDR7 transition is critical for SK Hynix and others, given the insatiable demand for high-bandwidth memory to power AI, graphics, and other data-intensive workloads. Hitting its stated Q1 2025 mass production target could ensure SK Hynix doesn't fall too far behind in the high-stakes GDDR7 race, with faster and higher-density chips to potentially follow shortly after volume ramp.

Possible specifications of the various NVIDIA GeForce "Blackwell" gaming GPUs were leaked to the web by Kopite7kimi, a reliable source with NVIDIA leaks. These are specs of the maxed out silicon, NVIDIA will carve out several GeForce RTX 50-series SKUs based on these chips, which could end up with lower shader counts than those shown here. We've known from older reports that there will be five chips in all, the GB202 being the largest, followed by the GB203, the GB205, the GB206, and the GB207. There is a notable absence of a successor to the AD104, GA104, and TU104, because NVIDIA is trying a slightly different way to approach the performance segment with this generation.

The GB202 is the halo segment chip that will drive the possible RTX 5090 (RTX 4090 successor). This chip is endowed with 192 streaming multiprocessors (SM), or 96 texture processing clusters (TPCs). These 96 TPCs are spread across 12 graphics processing clusters (GPCs), which each have 8 of them. Assuming that "Blackwell" has the same 256 CUDA cores per TPC that the past several generations of NVIDIA gaming GPUs have had, we end up with a total CUDA core count of 24,576. Another interesting aspect about this mega-chip is memory. The GPU implements the next-generation GDDR7 memory, and uses a mammoth 512-bit memory bus. Assuming the 28 Gbps memory speed that was being rumored for NVIDIA's "Blackwell" generation, this chip has 1,792 GB/s of memory bandwidth on tap!

Micron is getting ready to set sail with the new GDDR7 memory, and being NVIDIA's long-term partner, both are gaining big with the GeForce RTX 4000 Series. A few days ago, Micron announced its imminent launch of GDDR7 memory, remember that in March JEDEC published the GDDR7 memory standard. The interesting part is that an even more important piece of information was provided in one of Micron's slide-deck, the one that shows GDDR7 gaming performance. Officially Micron says that GDDR7 can be 3.1x faster than GDDR6 and 1.5x faster than GDDR6X. However, the slide in question provides some normalized FPS performance for ray tracing, and rasterization under game testing conditions. Until now, everything is clear, what comes next is our speculation and assumptions, based on previous knowledge so please, take it with a grain of salt. Will it be a hard guess, looking over those graphs, to tell that NVIDIA's RTX 5090 offers up to a 42% improvement over the RTX 4090 in rasterization, and up to 48% in ray tracing?

NVIDIA is getting closer to releasing its next-gen GPU with the RTX 5090 graphics card. Micron is in a strong partnership with NVIDIA and it's expected that its next gen graphics cards will use Micron GDDR7 memory. Now, we know that, at least for Ray Tracing, one real-world benchmark is Cyberpunk 2077, and it could be also the case here, from the graphs it looks very much like Ray Tracing was tested with Path Tracing. For Rasterization performance another hard guess is that perhaps it's either Starfield or Assassin's Creed Mirage. Presumably, tests were made using also AMD RX 7900XTX, and NVIDIA RTX 4090 to get GDDR6 reference. Time will tell if we made the right prediction.

Micron Technology, Inc., today announced the sampling of its next-generation GDDR7 graphics memory with the industry's highest bit density. Leveraging Micron's 1β (1-beta) DRAM technology and innovative architecture, Micron GDDR7 delivers 32 Gb/s high-performance memory in a power-optimized design. With over 1.5 TB/s of system bandwidth, which is up to 60% higher bandwidth than GDDR6, and four independent channels to optimize workloads, Micron GDDR7 memory enables faster response times, smoother gameplay and reduced processing times.

GDDR7 also provides a greater than 50% power-efficiency improvement compared to GDDR6 to better thermals and lengthen battery life, while the new sleep mode reduces standby power by up to 70%. Advanced reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features on Micron GDDR7 enhance device dependability and data integrity without compromising performance, broadening the spectrum of applications for Micron GDDR7 to AI, gaming and high-performance computing workloads.

Today, we have the latest round of leaks that suggest that AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 graphics cards, codenamed the "RX 8000-series," might continue to rely on GDDR6 memory modules. According to Kepler on X, the next-generation GPUs from AMD are expected to feature 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory, marking the fourth consecutive RDNA architecture to employ this memory standard. While GDDR6 may not offer the same bandwidth capabilities as the newer GDDR7 standard, this decision does not necessarily imply that RDNA 4 GPUs will be slow performers. AMD's choice to stick with GDDR6 is likely driven by factors such as meeting specific memory bandwidth requirements and cost optimization for PCB designs. However, if the rumor of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory proves accurate, it would represent a slight step back from the 18-20 Gbps GDDR6 memory used in AMD's current RDNA 3 offerings, such as the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX GPUs.

AMD's first generation RDNA used GDDR6 with 12-14 Gbps speeds, RDNA 2 came with GDDR6 at 14-18 Gbps, and the current RDNA 3 used 18-20 Gbps GDDR6. Without an increment in memory generation, speeds should stay the same at 18 Gbps. However, it is crucial to remember that leaks should be treated with skepticism, as AMD's final memory choices for RDNA 4 could change before the official launch. The decision to use GDDR6 versus GDDR7 could have significant implications in the upcoming battle between AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel's next-generation GPU architectures. If AMD indeed opts for GDDR6 while NVIDIA pivots to GDDR7 for its "Blackwell" GPUs, it could create a disparity in memory bandwidth performance between the competing products. All three major GPU manufacturers—AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel with its "Battlemage" architecture—are expected to unveil their next-generation offerings in the fall of this year. As we approach these highly anticipated releases, more concrete details on specifications and performance capabilities will emerge, providing a clearer picture of the competitive landscape.

Introspect Technology, a JEDEC member and a leading manufacturer of test and measurement instruments, announced today that it has shipped the M5512 GDDR7 Memory Test System, the world's first commercial solution for testing JEDEC's newly minted JESD239 Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR7) SGRAM specification. This category-creating solution enables graphics memory engineers, GPU design engineers, product engineers in both memory and GPU spaces, and system integrators to rapidly bring up new GDDR7 memory devices, debug protocol errors, characterize signal integrity, and perform detailed memory read/write functional stress testing without requiring any other tool.

The GDDR7 specification is the latest industry standard that is aimed at the creation of high-bandwidth and high-capacity memory implementations for graphics processing, artificial intelligence (AI), and AI-intensive networking. Featuring pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) and an improved signal to noise ratio compared to other PAM4 standards used in networking, the GDDR7 PAM3 modulation technology achieves greater power-efficiency while significantly increasing data transmission bandwidth over constrained electrical channels.

Samsung is ready with a GDDR7 memory chip rated at an oddly-specific 28 Gbps. This speed aligns with the reported default memory speeds of next-generation NVIDIA GeForce RTX "Blackwell" GPUs. The Samsung GDDR7 memory chip bearing model number K4VAF325ZC-SC28, pictured below, ticks at 3500 MHz, yielding 28 Gbps (GDDR7-effective) memory speeds, and comes with a density of 16 Gbit (2 GB). This isn't Samsung's only GDDR7 chip at launch, the company also has a 32 Gbps high performance part that it built in hopes that certain high-end SKUs or professional graphics cards may implement it. The 32 Gbps GDDR7 chip, bearing the chip model number K4VAF325ZC-SC32, offers the same 16 Gbit density, but at a higher 4000 MHz clock. The Samsung website part-identification pages for both chips say that the parts are sampling to customers, which is usually just before it enters mass-production, and is marked "shipping."

SK hynix is displaying its latest AI memory technologies at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2024 held in San Jose from March 18-21. The annual AI developer conference is proceeding as an in-person event for the first time since the start of the pandemic, welcoming industry officials, tech decision makers, and business leaders. At the event, SK hynix is showcasing new memory solutions for AI and data centers alongside its established products.

Showcasing the Industry's Highest Standard of AI Memory
The AI revolution has continued to pick up pace as AI technologies spread their reach into various industries. In response, SK hynix is developing AI memory solutions capable of handling the vast amounts of data and processing power required by AI. At GTC 2024, the company is displaying some of these products, including its 12-layer HBM3E and Compute Express Link (CXL)1, under the slogan "Memory, The Power of AI". HBM3E, the fifth generation of HBM2, is the highest-specification DRAM for AI applications on the market. It offers the industry's highest capacity of 36 gigabytes (GB), a processing speed of 1.18 terabytes (TB) per second, and exceptional heat dissipation, making it particularly suitable for AI systems. On March 19, SK hynix announced it had become the first in the industry to mass-produce HBM3E.

NVIDIA is confirmed to implement the GDDR7 memory standard with the top three GPU ASICs powering the next-generation "Blackwell" GeForce RTX 50-series, Tweaktown reports, citing XpeaGPU. By this, we mean the top three physical silicon types from which NVIDIA will carve out the majority of its SKUs. This would include the GB202, the GB203, and GB205; which will power successors to everything from the current RTX 4070 to the RTX 4090. NVIDIA is expected to build these chips on the TSMC 4N foundry node.

There will be certain GPU ASIC types in the "Blackwell" generation that will stick to older memory standards such as GDDR6 or even the GDDR6X. These would be successors to the current AD106 and AD107 ASICs, powering SKUs such as the RTX 4060 Ti, and below. NVIDIA co-developed the GDDR6X standard with Micron Technology, which is the chip's exclusive supplier to NVIDIA. GDDR6X scales up to 23 Gbps and 16 Gbit, which means NVIDIA can avail plenty of performance for the lower-end of its product stack using GDDR6X; especially considering that its GDDR7 implementation will only run at 28 Gbps, despite chips being available in the market for 32 Gbps, or even 36 Gbps. Even if NVIDIA chooses the regular GDDR6 standard for its entry-mainstream chips, the tech scales up to 20 Gbps.

SK hynix unveiled a new consumer product based on its latest solid-state drive (SSD), PCB01, which boasts industry-leading performance levels at GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2024. Hosted by NVIDIA in San Jose, California from March 18-21, GTC is one of the world's leading conferences for AI developers. Applied to on-device AI PCs, PCB01 is a PCIe fifth-generation SSD which recently had its performance and reliability verified by a major global customer. After completing product development in the first half of 2024, SK hynix plans to launch two versions of PCB01 by the end of the year which target both major technology companies and general consumers.

Optimized for AI PCs, Capable of Loading LLMs Within One Second
Offering the industry's highest sequential read speed of 14 gigabytes per second (GB/s) and a sequential write speed of 12 GB/s, PCB01 doubles the speed specifications of its previous generation. This enables the loading of LLMs required for AI learning and inference in less than one second. To make on-device AIs operational, PC manufacturers create a structure that stores an LLM in the PC's internal storage and quickly transfers the data to DRAMs for AI tasks. In this process, the PCB01 inside the PC efficiently supports the loading of LLMs. SK hynix expects these characteristics of its latest SSD to greatly increase the speed and quality of on-device AIs.

Samsung Electronics showed off its latest graphics memory innovations at GTC, with an exhibit of its new 32 Gbps GDDR7 memory chip. The chip is designed to power the next generation of consumer and professional graphics cards, and some models of NVIDIA's GeForce RTX "Blackwell" generation are expected to implement GDDR7. The chip Samsung showed off at GTC is of the highly relevant 16 Gbit density (2 GB). This is important, as NVIDIA is rumored to keep graphics card memory sizes largely similar to where they currently are, while only focusing on increasing memory speeds.

The Samsung GDDR7 chip shown is capable of its 32 Gbps speed at a DRAM voltage of just 1.1 V, which beats the 1.2 V that's part of JEDEC's GDDR7 specification, which along with other power management innovations specific to Samsung, translates to a 20% improvement in energy efficiency. Although this chip is capable of 32 Gbps, NVIDIA isn't expected to give its first GeForce RTX "Blackwell" graphics cards that speed, and the first SKUs are expected to ship with 28 Gbps GDDR7 memory speeds, which means NVIDIA could run this Samsung chip at a slightly lower voltage, or with better timings. Samsung also made some innovations with the package substrate, which decreases thermal resistance by 70% compared to its GDDR6 chips. Both NVIDIA and AMD are expected to launch their first discrete GPUs implementing GDDR7, in the second half of 2024.

The first round of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series "Blackwell" graphics cards that implement GDDR7 memory are rumored to come with a memory speed of 28 Gbps, according to kopite7kimi, a reliable source with NVIDIA leaks. This is despite the fact that the first GDDR7 memory chips will be capable of 32 Gbps speeds. NVIDIA will also stick with 16 Gbit densities for the GDDR7 memory chips, which means memory sizes could remain largely unchanged for the next generation; with the 28 Gbps GDDR7 memory chips providing 55% higher bandwidth over 18 Gbps GDDR6 and 33% higher bandwidth than 21 Gbps GDDR6X. It remains to be seen what memory bus widths NVIDIA chooses for its individual SKUs.

NVIDIA's decision to use 28 Gbps as its memory speeds has some precedent in recent history. The company's first GPUs to implement GDDR6, the RTX 20-series "Turing," opted for 14 Gbps speeds despite 16 Gbps GDDR6 chips being available. 28 Gbps is exactly double that speed. Future generations of GeForce RTX GPUs, or even refreshes within the RTX 50-series could see NVIDIA opt for higher memory speeds such as 32 Gbps. When the standard debuts, companies like Samsung even plan to put up fast 36 Gbps chips. Besides a generational doubling in speeds, GDDR7 is more energy-efficient as it operates at lower voltages than GDDR6. It also uses a more advanced PAM3 physical layer signaling compared to NRZ for JEDEC-standard GDDR6.

Some of the first gaming GPUs that implement the next-generation GDDR7 memory standard, will stick to 16 Gbit memory chip densities (2 GB), according to kopite7kimi, a reliable source with NVIDIA GeForce leaks. 16 Gbit is what is standard for the current RTX 40-series graphics cards, which ensures that a GPU with 256-bit memory bus gets 16 GB of video memory; the ones with 192-bit get 12 GB; and the ones with 128-bit get 8 GB. The flagship RTX 4090 uses twelve of these chips over its 384-bit memory bus for 24 GB.

Kopite7kimi's leak could have a different connotation, that much like the RTX 30-series "Ampere" and RTX 40-series "Ada," NVIDIA might not use JEDEC-standard GDDR7 on all product segments, and might co-engineer an exclusive standard with a DRAM company with memory bus signaling and power management technologies most optimal to its graphics architecture. It co-developed the GDDR6X with Micron Technology to do exactly this. GDDR7 comes with data-rates as high as 32 Gbps, which will be the top speed for the first round of GDDR7 chips that come out toward the end of 2024, heading into 2025. The second round of GDDR7 chips slated for late-2025 going into 2026, could go as fast as 36 Gbps. This is similar to how the first GDDR6 chips were 14-16 Gbps, and the next round did 18-20 Gbps.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in the development of standards for the microelectronics industry, is pleased to announce the publication of JESD239 Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR7) SGRAM. This groundbreaking new memory standard is available for free download from the JEDEC website. JESD239 GDDR7 offers double the bandwidth over GDDR6, reaching up to 192 GB/s per device, and is poised to meet the escalating demand for more memory bandwidth in graphics, gaming, compute, networking and AI applications.

JESD239 GDDR7 is the first JEDEC standard DRAM to use the Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) interface for high frequency operations. Its PAM3 interface improves the signal to noise ratio (SNR) for high frequency operation while enhancing energy efficiency. By using 3 levels (+1, 0, -1) to transmit 3 bits over 2-cycles versus the traditional NRZ (non-return-to-zero) interface transmitting 2 bits over 2-cycles, PAM3 offers higher data transmission rate per cycle resulting in improved performance.

Samsung isn't the only Korean memory giant showing off its latest tech at the upcoming IEEE Solid State Circuit Conference (SSCC) in February, 2024; it will be joined by SK Hynix, which will demo competing tech across both its volatile and non-volatile memory lines. To begin with, SK Hynix will be the second company to show off a GDDR7 memory chip, after Samsung. The SK Hynix chip is capable of 35.4 Gbps speeds, which is lower than the 37 Gbps Samsung is showing off, but at the same 16 Gbit density. This density allows the deployment of 16 GB of video memory across a 256-bit memory bus. Not all next-generation GPUs will max out 37 Gbps, some may run at lower memory speeds, and they have suitable options in the SK Hynix product stack. Much like Samsung, SK Hynix is implementing PAM3 I/O signaling, and a proprietary low-power architecture (though the company wouldn't elaborate on whether it's similar to the four low-speed clock states as the Samsung chips).

GDDR7 is bound to dominate the next generation of graphics cards across the gaming and pro-vis segments; however the AI HPC processor market will continue to bank heavily on HBM3E. SK Hynix has innovated here, and will show off a new 16-high 48 GB (384 Gbit) HBM3E stack design that's capable of 1280 GB/s over a single stack. A processor with even four such stacks will have 192 GB of memory at 5.12 TB/s of bandwidth. The stack implements a new all-around power TSV (through silicon via) design, and a 6-phase RDQS (read data queue strobe) scheme, for TSV area optimization. Lastly, the SK Hynix sessions will also include the first demo of its ambitious LPDDR5T (LPDDR5 Turbo) memory standard aimed at smartphones, tablets, and thin-and-light notebooks. This chip achieves a data-rate of 10.5 Gb/s per pin, and a DRAM voltage of 1.05 V. Such high data speeds are possible thanks to a proprietary parasitic capacitance reduction technology, and a voltage offset calibrated receiver tech.

In addition to the 37 Gbps GDDR7 memory, Samsung Electronics prepares to showcase several other memory innovations at the 2024 IEEE-SSCC as compiled by VideoCardz. To begin with, the company is showcasing a new 280-layer 3D QLC NAND flash memory in the 1 Tb density, enabling next generation of mainstream SSDs and smartphone storage. This chip offers an areal density of 28.5 Gb/mm², and a speed of 3.2 GB/s. To put this into perspective, the fastest 3D NAND flash types powering the current crop of flagship NVMe SSDs rely on 2.4 GB/s of I/O data rates.

Next up, is a new generation DDR5 memory chip offers data rates of DDR5-8000 with a density of 32 Gbit (4 GB). This chip uses a symmetric-mosaic DRAM cell architecture, and is built on a 5th generation 10 nm class foundry node Samsung optimized for DRAM products. What's impressive about this chip is that it will allow PC memory vendors to build 32 GB and 48 GB DIMMs in single-rank configuration with DDR5-8000 speeds; as well as 64 GB and 96 GB DIMMs in dual-rank configuration (impressive, provided your platform can play well with DDR5-8000 in dual-rank).

Samsung Electronics will demonstrate its next generation GDDR7 memory chips at the IEEE Solid State Circuit Conference (SSCC), to be held in San Francisco in February. The company had teased GDDR7 way back at its Tech Day in 2022. The GDDR7 memory standard is targeted squarely at graphics cards and game consoles, it offers a 2x bandwidth gain over the current GDDR6. Samsung is expected to showcase a GDDR7 chip that's capable of 37 Gbps data-rate, with 16 Gbit (2 GB) density.

The GDDR7 memory standard leverages PAM3 signaling to achieve these high data-rates. The current GDDR6 standard uses NRZ signaling, while its off-shoot GDDR6X co-developed by NVIDIA and Micron Technology relies on PAM4 signaling. The standard also features four read clock modes, which should help with power management when the device is idling. Both NVIDIA and AMD are expected to implement GDDR7 with their next-generation GPUs. GDDR7 enters mass-production this year, and will feature in NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50-series "Blackwell" graphics cards, as well as AMD Radeon RX 8000 series RDNA4.