Something to look forward to: Samsung has started sampling new modules of GDDR6 VRAM that are at least as fast as Micron’s GDDR6X, and there’s a good chance they could show up in graphics cards expected to launch in 2022.
Samsung’s website now has pages for the K4ZAF325BC-SC24 and K4ZAF325BC-SC20 graphics RAM modules, advertising speeds of 24.0Gbps and 20.0Gbps, respectively. Both list “sample” under product status to indicate they’re in testing.
Both types are listed with the “180FBGA” package and with a 16GB density. Samsung’s catalog doesn’t say when they might go into mass production for actual products, much less which products.
Currently, GPUs with GDDR6 RAM like AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series or some of Nvidia’s RTX 3000 cards boast memory speeds between 14 Gbps and 16 Gbps. Nvidia’s RTX 3090, 3080, 3080 Ti, and 3070 Ti feature GDDR6X which can reach up to around 19Gbps. The GDDR6 in the liquid-cooled edition of AMD’s RX 6900 XT can hit 18Gbps.
It’s not really a stretch to think Samsung’s newer modules could end up in the RTX 4000s or the RDNA3 cards, expected to launch later next year. Rumors currently say the RTX 3090 Ti will launch in January with 21Gbps GDDR6X memory.