Nvidia Could Use Samsung's GDDR7 Chips for GeForce RTX 50-Series

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Samsung could replace Micron as Nvidia's primary GDDR SGRAM partner.

GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
(Image credit: Nvidia)

Being the only maker of GDDR6X, Micron has been the primary supplier of GDDR memory for Nvidia since mid-2020 and will continue to be for at least a year. But with next-gen GDDR7 around the corner, the situation may change, and the company is already evaluating Samsung's GDDR7 components with the aim to use it with its next-generation GeForce RTX 50-series graphics products, reports BusinessKorea.

Samsung has been particularly vocal about GDDR7 in the last year or so and introduced the industry's first GDDR7 chips in mid-July. Samsung has already begun to ship GDDR7 samples to Nvidia "for the verification of its integration into next-gen systems," the report asserts. SK hynix is not far behind, with plans to finalize its own GDDR7 technology within this year, BusinessKorea reports. By contrast, Micron only said that it would introduce its first GDDR7 offerings in the first half of next year. 

The report suggests that given the timeline of GDDR7 introduction by leading DRAM makers, Nvidia may lean towards Samsung's and SK hynix’s offerings for its next-gen GeForce RTX 50-series graphics processors. There is a catch, though. Nvidia is interested in mating as many GDDR IC models with its GPUs as possible in order to encourage competition between DRAM suppliers and ultimately make GeForce graphics cards cheaper.

For now, Micron will remain the sole supplier of GDDR6X, which is used by Nvidia's range-topping GeForce RTX 4080 and 4090-series products, which are among the best graphics cards money can buy today. But the focus on GDDR7 by Samsung and SK hynix signals a shift in the competitive landscape of the GDDR market as there will be three suppliers to offer GDDR memory for Nvidia's next-generation high-end GPUs codenamed products, not one, like in the case of the GeForce RTX 30 and RTX 40-series.

GDDR SGRAM is crucial for gaming graphics cards, and these types of memory are particularly lucrative for DRAM makers like Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix. The total available market of GDDR memory is expected to expand from $3.2 billion in 2018 to $4.8 billion by 2030, according to Industry Growth Insights. 

Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Order 66
    rumor has it that the 5090/titan could have 48 GB of GDDR7 on a 512 bit bus with over 31000 cuda cores which means that the entire next gen could be a meaningful upgrade over the 40 series unlike the 40 series vs the 30 series.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    long as nvidia doesn't shaft the bus on 5000 series and rely on frame generation for improvements idc what they do.
    Reply
  • atomicWAR
    jaydenmiller1 said:
    rumor has it that the 5090/titan could have 48 GB of GDDR7 on a 512 bit bus with over 31000 cuda cores which means that the entire next gen could be a meaningful upgrade over the 40 series unlike the 40 series vs the 30 series.
    Sounds like a similar up tick, roughy, going from the 3090->4090. Question is will they only reserve the bump in higher skus like the 5090 or will Nvidis learn from their mistake and give everyone a solid 50%+ in performance increase. Time will tell
    Reply
  • peachpuff
    hotaru251 said:
    long as nvidia doesn't shaft the bus on 5000 series and rely on frame generation for improvements idc what they do.
    Don't be silly, 64bit bus coming for the 5060!
    Reply
  • Upacs
    Nvidia is interested in mating as many GDDR IC models with its GPUs as possible in order to encourage competition between DRAM suppliers and ultimately make GeForce graphics cards cheaper to produce and increase profits
    There, fixed it for you
    Reply
  • _dawn_chorus_
    Yes...but at what cost?
    Reply
  • Lucky_SLS
    jaydenmiller1 said:
    rumor has it that the 5090/titan could have 48 GB of GDDR7 on a 512 bit bus with over 31000 cuda cores which means that the entire next gen could be a meaningful upgrade over the 40 series unlike the 40 series vs the 30 series.

    2000 USD for 5090 and 2500 for titan. And ppl would still buy them.
    Reply
  • TheAlmightyProo
    Lucky_SLS said:
    2000 USD for 5090 and 2500 for titan. And ppl would still buy them.
    Oh, especially if AMD take a step back at the high end next gen as has been rumoured. Though no surprise, RDNA2 and 3 simply haven't had the interest and profits they should've, even if only to pay for their own R&D, nm production. Imo Intel aren't yet set to fill that space and you can be sure Nvidia will take huge advantage of the fact. Good chance many more of us will be Nvidia users soon, and not by choice or value... but by then debating prices and worth (nm old anti-AMD myths) in forums will be too late to change course.
    Reply
  • Lucky_SLS
    AMD would have got a more favourable take on their 7000 series if they had launched the cards with FSR 3 and driver level FG support. But that boat has sailed now...
    Reply