GDDR5

A graphics card is a type of electronic component that has the function of processing all the information that reaches a device in order to later show it to the user visually through a monitor . This type of card is very common and has a very important role in the world of video games and video editing . There are many types of graphics cards, one of which is the GDDR5 , technology RAM for high performance .

GDDR5 memory features

Among its main characteristics are the following:

• It is a random access memory .
• It works thanks to the DDR3 SDRAM  technology base .
• It can be configured so that it can operate in x32 and x16 modes, which are detected when the equipment is turned on.
• It combines the concepts of optimization of the sector information , the interface of the time and compensation of errors .
• They have a frequency of 10 GHz.
• The GDDR5 voltage is currently 55 V.
• Its acronym in the English language means: Graphics Double Data Rate type five Synchronous Graphics Random-Access Memory.
• They have two parallel DQ links that allow you to have double bandwidth.
• They can be found in different sizes including 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB.
• There is a new version of this type of card which is more advanced and is known by the name of GDDR5X .
• It uses two types of memory channels to communicate with the CPU.

History

The first GDDR5 card was introduced to the market by Hynix Semiconductors in early 2008 . At that time, it had a bandwidth capacity that managed to reach 20 GB / s on a 32-bit bus. In the month of June of the year 2008 , the first company that decided to use the graphics card was ATI and incorporated it into their products for video Radeon HD 4870.

Today, GDDR5 memory cards are mainly used in high-end and mid- range video cards and many models have incorporated it. One of the companies that mainly uses this type of card is GeForce and Nvidia . Even some eighth-generation consoles such as the Xbox One X and the Play Station 4 , have incorporated the GDDR5 into their systems.

What is it for

The GDDR5 to being a graphic memory , serves to work with intense graphics applications and can also reach speeds more high of having a RAM traditional. They provide the user with a higher bandwidth which means that there is no loss in performance especially when working with large textures. It is also required to be able to store the graphic elements that make the GPU work properly.

Velocity

GDDR5 memory has the ability to deliver speeds reaching 9 Gbps. In the case of GDDR5X cards , which are a version of this type of card, a speed of 14 Gbps can be reached .

Advantages of GDDR5 memory

Some of its main advantages are:

• It offers greater performance and greater stability while providing better energy efficiency as the Vdd manages to drop from 2 V to 1.1 V.
• It manages to satisfy the different needs to provide efficient performance in a large branch of applications including high-performance computers and servers.
• It does not degrade channel efficiency even though it uses fairly high speeds.
• It has two sub channels that operate independently of 40 bits , which increases reliability and efficiency.
• It has DFE that makes it possible to scale the input and output speeds thus providing a greater bandwidth .
• The RAM has a speed of best and highest clock to the range of 1.6 to 3.2 GHz and this affects their performance positively.

Disadvantages of GDDR5 memory

Among its main disadvantages we find the following:

• The main disadvantage of GDDR5 is its deficiency in terms of capacity, since this type of card works point to point , which means that it will not have the capacity to insert more than one chip for every 32/16 bits of memory bus.
• The cost is one of its drawbacks because it is quite high and may prove to be a luxury for most average users.
• It is a type of card that presents a large number of challenges during its design and manufacture, mainly related to low voltages and speeds, this means that, if the card is not perfectly balanced, it can produce a series of related problems. with the integrity of the signal .
• To be able to use this type of card, it is necessary to have a motherboard that is compatible with memory so that in this way the DIMMs have the ability to work at higher speeds of the signals that are transmitted in the system.
• The signal reception at this time is only good memories when options differential feedback equalization are better and greater.

How it differs from GDDR4 memory

Among the main differences that can be noticed between these two types of graphics cards are the following:

• The DDR4 can operate using a lower voltage to that of GDDR5 , 1.2 volts to be exact. The GDDR5, for its part, has the capacity to reach 1.5v. This is because the latter is based on the DDR3 memory standard, which also has a series voltage of 1.5v.
• In terms of memory frequencies , DDR4 works more or less using the same speed as GDDR5X and GDDR6 , which translates to between 1,750 and 1,800 MHz, but the performance of graphics memory implies that the effective bandwidth it is 4 times greater.
• The GDDR5X can drop the voltage to 1.35v, while increasing the bandwidth per pin to 16Gbit / s.

Implementation

GDDR5 can be implemented on both mobile computers , desktops and mobile devices . Its implementation will also depend on the specifications necessary to perform the installation.

Compatibility

For the GDDR5 is compatible with a computer , it must have a card mother or motherboard ddr2 or ddr3 and also have a PCI-E.

Featured Manufacturers

The main manufacturer of GDDR5 is SK Hynix , a company that improves their performance and capacity every day. Other companies such as ELPIDA , Micron and the Hynix company also make this type of device.