Expect next-generation graphics cards to carry GDDR7 memory.
On Wednesday, Micron’s CEO said the company will launch the upgraded GPU memory next year. “We plan to introduce our next-generation G7 product on our industry-leading 1-beta node in the first half of calendar year 2024,” Sanjay Mehrotra said in an earnings call.
The company is already a major supplier for GDDR6 and GDDR6X video memory, which have both been used in graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia. So there’s a strong chance the GPU makers, along with newcomer Intel, incorporate the technology for their next graphics cards. (Samsung is another developer of GDDR memory, including GDDR7.)
Micron hasn’t detailed its own GDDR7 tech yet, but the upgraded memory should help upcoming graphics cards store and display detailed images and textures at higher resolutions—1440p, 4K, and beyond.
In Samsung’s case, the company’s GDDR7 memory has been tipped to deliver transfer rates at 36Gbps, up from the 24Gbps of GDDR6. Memory designer Cadence adds that GDDR7 will use PAM3 encoding so that the memory can hit 36Gbps per pin. On the downside, the encoding will require adoption of new memory controllers and interfaces between chips.
Although GRR7 has been tipped for next year, Nvidia indicates it might delay launching next-gen RTX graphics cards for consumers. In an updated roadmap revealed earlier this week, the company showed that its successor to the Ada Lovelace architecture—used in the latest RTX 4000 series—won’t arrive until sometime in 2025, instead of the expected fall 2024 timeframe.