Micron to release GDDR6 graphics memory by years end

GDDR types of memory are still very popular, even with HBM in development in the high-end spectrum. Micron will release GDDR6 graphics memory by years end, the memory will be faster and more energy efficient.

The memory is advancing on GDDR5X (Graphics Double Data Rate (DDR)) but with a memory bandwidth of 16Gbit/s, twice as much as GDDR5 offers. Micron has high expectations for GDDR6 and GDDR5X, they believe it will be the leading memory type by 2020. Once fully efficient GDDR6 could transfer data at 16Gbps (bits per second), which is twice as fast as GDDR5, used in most GPUs today and thus potentially be faster than GDDR5X which has an aim at 12Gbps. 

Micron also things they can apply GDDR6 for other solutions then just gaming graphics cards. GDDR6 would also be more enrgy efficient, up-to 20% compared towards GDDR5 memory. A projected 500 million people will be eSports fans by the end of the decade. Gaming PCs are now being upgraded every three years, which is faster than the previous five-year cycle.

"There will be more people watching major eSports championships than any other North American professional championship with the exception of the Super Bowl," Eby said.

It’s not yet known when precisely GPUs with GDDR6 will appear, but GDDR6 would become available by the end of the year. Micron’s original plan was to release GDDR6 sometime in 2018. The company is hoping to be able to release by the end of this year in order to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of gaming PCs and consoles.