Rumour: Nvidia Is Working On High-Speed GDDR5X Memory For Its Upcoming Pascal GP104 GPU

While this one most certainly goes down as a rumour, reports are circulating that Nvidia is planning to use next-generation GDDR5 memory for some of its upcoming Pascal GPUs. The memory in question is GDDR5X, which is double the density of its predecessor and capable of faster data rates - potentially up to 16Gbps from the 7Gbps seen in standard GDDR5 memory.

At the moment it looks as if Nvidia is testing both the GP100 and the GP104 GPUs, ready for shipping sometime next year. Following standard Nvidia nomenclature, the former will be the full fat model which powers the upcoming GTX Titan X and GTX 980 Ti equivalents. These are the graphics cards expected to use the second-generation HBM2 (High Bandwidth Memory), while the more affordable GP100 chips are rumoured to take advantage of the new GDDR5X. As for what the means for performance; the GDDR5X will once more be on a 256-bit memory bus, however the faster memory data rates ensure memory bandwidth can be pushed as high as 448GB/s. This is a doubling of the 224GB/s seen with GDDR5 as standard. This is still slightly slower than the 512GB/s offer in AMD’s Fiji-powered Fury cards and significantly slower than the memory bandwidth in excess of TB/s offered with the second generation HBM2 used in the Pascal GP100 GPU. Rumours like this need to be taken with an absolutely hefty pinch of salt but it makes a lot of sense on Nvidia’s part. HBM is still in its infancy and it comes at a premium cost. Pushing the limits of GDDR5 memory with GDDR5X is not only cheaper in the short term, but it will provide noticeable performance benefits. This is topped off with the doubling of memory density, which should in theory allow Nvidia to build graphics cards with smaller PCBs. Great for small form factor builds. It's disappointing to hear mid-high end graphics cards might not feature the much-vaunted HBM, but if it means a more affordable product then it's a decision that's got to be made. Taking these two difference approaches Nvidia how has an answer for both the enthusiast / workstation market and the mid-range gaming market which has proven so popular.