Micron has announced that it has begun mass-producing 8GB GDDR6 memory modules, in addition to ramping up documentation and interoperability efforts with core partners to push GDDR6 to the market more quickly. Targeting up to 64GB/s in one package, the new graphics double data rate (GDDR) memory is intended for use by A.I., GPUs, networking, and the automotive industry. In fact, the automotive industry may be the industry where Micron’s achievement will have the most impact. Recognizing the need for better memory performance to cater to autonomous vehicles and real-time data analysis in smart vehicles that aren’t A.I. driven, Micron says that its GDDR6 can double the bandwidth of LPDDR5 solutions. Specifically, the company says GDDR6’s has the ability to offer 448 GB/s on the auto qualified memory front.
With that said, GDDR6 will also have a significant impact on A.I. in general, with Micron pointing to machine learning and deep learning as memory-intensive applications that require more memory bandwidth to progress forward. Computer vision, in particular, could benefit from GDDR6 since it should allow for a higher throughput from visual input devices through other components. Meanwhile, networking solutions from network interface cards to RAID controllers should also be able to take advantage of a higher data-rate. For example, RAID controllers should be able to take advantage of higher bandwidth to improve the speed of mirroring. That could feasibly improve both the performance of drives in a RAID configuration while also improving protection of that data.
Last but not least, the new technology will have an obvious impact on enterprise GPUs and eventually consumer graphics cards. The latter of those may happen sooner rather than later as well since the new chips are said to be built on the industry-standard BGA packaging. That makes them cost-effective and low-risk while improving initial scalability. Micron points out that the introduction of higher application bandwidth will deliver improvements to graphics acceleration, 4K media and rendering, VR, and AR. Setting aside that they’ll almost certainly be used for crypto mining, the new advancement in graphics-specific memory could be just what the latter of those categories needs. Companies have been pushing the boundaries of display resolutions for VR headsets and AR applications but those advances mean very little without the ability to move enough data around to fill the screens accurately. GDDR6 may very well answer that problem and others.