When it comes to graphics cards, a significant portion of their performance comes from the onboard VRAM. That memory not only has to store masses of data for rendering or compute, it also needs to be able to transfer data very rapidly. JEDEC, the semiconductor standards body, has , the next generation of ultra-fast video RAM, with double the bandwidth of GDDR6.
News of the spec approval (via ) has been well received and for good reason, as it's not just the raw speed that's better. At the moment, if you want the fastest VRAM, you either buy 24Gbps GDDR6 from Samsung or 24Gbps from Micron (the only company to make that type of memory).
GDDR7 pushes them all aside, as it will be able to reach 32Gbps and, in time, will probably go even higher. To give you an idea of what that actually means, a uses 20Gbps GDDR6 for a total of 960 GB/s of bandwidth. Swap that for GDDR7 and you're looking at up to 1,536 GB/s.
It's a similar mechanism to that used by Micron in its GDDR6X (exclusively used by Nvidia), which runs PAM-4 signalling, for two bits per cycle. As to why GDDR7 isn't using PAM-4, it's all about simplicity and cost. The better system requires tighter electrical tolerances, so it's more expensive to manufacture and thus makes graphics cards that use it pricier too.
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I don't expect we'll see full-blown 32Gbps, 32Gb GDDR7 modules being used on graphics cards any time soon, though, as it will take a while for Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix to [[link]] hone and ramp up production. What we'll probably get to begin with are modules that are around 28 to 30Gbps but still 16Gb in density. In other words, the next generation of GPUs will be sporting VRAM that's around 25% faster but no larger in terms of storage capacity.
As to which GPU vendor will be first to jump onto the GDDR7 bandwagon, I suspect that it will be Nvidia, although there is a slim possibility that AMD might get there first if it [[link]] launches RDNA 4 before the hits the shelves. However, GDDR7 is likely to be pretty expensive to start with, and with , it will probably stick with GDDR6.
Whatever ultimately happens, the vendor first to market with a GDDR7-powered graphics card is going to make a huge fuss about it.