Samsung and SK Hynix – both of whom are responsible for introducing the recent HBM2 GPU memory controller – are said to be working on the next generation of High Bandwidth Memory modules. Oddly, both companies seem to have named the upcoming HBM module differently: Samsung dubs it as Extreme HBM or xHBM, while SK Hynix decided to call it HBMx or the more conventional HBM3.
According to Samsung and SK Hynix, HBM3 will be consumers with twice the bandwidth speeds of the “old” HBM2 module; which isn’t surprising. According to sources, HBM3 will offer memory bandwidth speeds of up to 512GBps, making it significantly faster compared to HBM2. In addition, HBM3 is said to make way for manufacturers to create graphics cards with 64GB of memory. Imagine the possibilities then.
One key feature that makes the upcoming memory module more attractive compared to its predecessor is the fact that it comes with a lower cost of production – a rather large problem that HBM technology is currently facing. If Samsung and SK Hynix are able to introduce a memory module that is both fast and cost effective, it wouldn’t be surprising to see GPU manufacturers implementing HBM3 inside their future non high-end graphics cards.
Speaking of which, with Samsung and SK Hynix already planning to create the HBM3 module, one can’t hep but think what’ll happen to HBM2 in the future. So far, HBM2 have only been used in deep-learning oriented graphics cards, leaving GDDR5X to be used for consumer-grade graphics cards instead. Perhaps the contributing factor to this would be the cost of HBM2: imagine the retail price of the GTX 1080 if Nvidia decided to opt for HBM2 instead of GDDR5X.
Nonetheless, hopefully with improvements in both bandwidth speeds and cost of production, more mainstream consumers would be able to witness the many benefits that come with High Bandwidth Memory.
(Source: Computerbase via TweakTown)
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