Samsung is building chips for next-gen gaming graphics

Samsung likes being the first kid on the block with new memory products, and has done it again with a type of DRAM. The so-called HBM2 modulescan power through data at the rate of 256GBps (with a capital “B”), making them a whopping seven times faster than the best DDR5 chips on the market. The company said the 20-nanometer chips are mainly aimed at server manufacturers who are willing to spend for the latest toys. However, they will also allow NVIDIA and AMD to accelerate performance (and reduce power consumption) significantly on upcoming graphics cards.

Samsung is building 4GB modules with four layers of 8-gigabit cores, but plans on introducing 8GB products with eight stacks by the end of the year. The company said that “by specifying [the chips] in graphics cards, designers will be able to enjoy a space savings of more than 95 percent compared to GDDR5 DRAM.” That means NVIDIA and AMD can build more size-efficient cards that run cooler and faster — and therefore play Crysismore smoothly. The 4GB chips Samsung is building now could end up in next-gen consumer cards, while 8GB models are more likely to end up in high-end NVIDIA Kepler and AMD FIrePro workstations.