AT&T Tech Support 360Nvidia, AMD stances differ on new memory technology
While AMD is touting next-generation memory for its upcoming graphics products, Nvidia is being more circumspect.
AMD announced Tuesday that it will adopt the first commercial implementation of Graphics Double Data Rate, version 5 (GDDR5) memory in its forthcoming next generation of ATI Radeon graphics board products. (See: AMD: We're first with GDDR5 memory)
The new AMD boards will be based on AMD HD 4850 and 4870 graphics chips, as widely reported.
"The higher data rates supported by GDDR5--up to 5x that of GDDR3 and 4x that of GDDR4--enable more bandwidth over a narrower memory interface, which can translate into superior performance delivered from smaller, more cost-effective chips," AMD said in a statement.
Nvidia is supporting the technology but taking a more cautious approach. The Santa Clara, CA-based graphics chipmaker is a vice chair in the GDDR5 task group, said Barry Wagner, director of technical marketing at Nvidia. "We're involved in the specification of GDDR5 so if we want to build products around it, at least the spec is architected in a way that we would be content with," Wagner said.
Nvidia will announce its next-generation GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 graphics chips in mid-June, according to sources familiar with Nvidia's plans.
"We aren't particularly attached to any given interface technology," Wagner said. Nvidia does support GDDR3 in its products but did not use the GDDR4 interface. Wagner said Nvidia didn't use GDDR4 because "at the end of the day, we built a better architecture and better product line and were able to attach a better price-performance memory to it."
He added that GDDR4 did not always perform as well in the market as other interfaces.
Nvidia may use GDDR5 if the segment calls for it, Wagner said. "If it looks like it makes sense for some segments of our business, we would adopt it."
Memory chipmakers Qimonda, Hynix, and Samsung are shipping chips using the JEDEC-specified GDDR5 interface.
Qimonda said it collaborated with AMD. "Qimonda has worked closely with AMD to ensure that GDDR5 is available in volume to best support AMD's next-generation graphics products," said Thomas Seifert, Chief Operating Officer of Qimonda AG in a statement.
AMD also cited GDDR5 for stream processing: "In addition to the potential for improved gaming and PC application performance, GDDR5 also holds a number of benefits for stream processing, where GPUs are applied to address complex, massively parallel calculations."
Brooke Crothers is a former editor at large at CNET News.com, and has been an editor for the Asian weekly version of the Wall Street Journal. He writes for the CNET Blog Network, and is not a current employee of CNET. Contact him at mbcrothers@gmail.com. Disclosure.
As ATI continues to be more "cost-effecive" their products continue to lag behid Nvidia.
ATI is trying any marketing strategy they can to try and regain the ground they are quickly loosing. They know that idiots will buy into their marketing just because 5 is a higher number than 4 and most people don't even bother to think about what that number is representing. ATI can put all the fastest memory in the world on their video cards but it will not make up for the fact that the processors on those card suck an ass.
I can see it now. In a few months when the next latest and greatest game is released all of the ATI GDDR5 users will be flooding the forums asking why they cant get their uber frame rates.....
The internet is such a good place for information, it is too bad that it has to amplify stupidity the way it does.
As ATI continues to be more "cost-effecive" their products continue to lag behid Nvidia.
ATI is trying any marketing strategy they can to try and regain the ground they are quickly loosing. They know that idiots will buy into their marketing just because 5 is a higher number than 4 and most people don't even bother to think about what that number is representing. ATI can put all the fastest memory in the world on their video cards but it will not make up for the fact that the processors on those card suck an ass.
I can see it now. In a few months when the next latest and greatest game is released all of the ATI GDDR5 users will be flooding the forums asking why they cant get their uber frame rates.....
The internet is such a good place for information, it is too bad that it has to amplify stupidity the way it does.
As ATI continues to be more "cost-effecive" their products continue to lag behid Nvidia.
ATI is trying any marketing strategy they can to try and regain the ground they are quickly loosing. They know that idiots will buy into their marketing just because 5 is a higher number than 4 and most people don't even bother to think about what that number is representing. ATI can put all the fastest memory in the world on their video cards but it will not make up for the fact that the processors on those cards are substandard.
I can see it now. In a few months when the next latest and greatest game is released all of the ATI GDDR5 users will be flooding the forums asking why they cant get their uber frame rates.....
The internet is such a good place for information, it is too bad that it has to amplify stupidity the way it does.
AMD were the first ones to adapt the new smaller and more efficient types of architecture in processors that Intel now now has in their processors. It wasn't until Intel realized that they were loosing a lot of their market to AMD in increasing amounts that they started making more efficient processors. It was AMD's superior products that forced Intel to both make superior products, and lower prices on a lot of their products.
I own an AMD processor because when I bought it, it was much better than any of the Intel processors. Intel now has better processors, specifically because they're a larger company with more money for research and development. That by no means that AMD processors are obsolete. AMD and Intel are both great processors and technology.
I worked at a major computer retailer and 90% of all the budget level machines we got through our store were athlons. (These were machines made by Acer, HP/Compaq, etc..)
I even built my rig around an Athlon 6000 x2 and can play Assassin's Creed w/ Vista (sidebar enabled), a web browser, a movie copying in the background and an DVD playing off my hard disk.