Why ddr3 when graphic cards have gddr5?

[muujig612]

Hi all

I may be a noobie, and to some: I'm sorry for asking this!

but how come we're stuck with ddr3 RAM when graphic cards have gddr5 memory?

Please don't reply with "the memory is not the same or timing is different" and unresolved answers like that!
cause I know they are not the same. That is why I'm asking why? How does a graphic card uses its memory and how does a PC uses its memory? What's the difference? Why can't PC use graphic card memory (gddr5) like a graphic card?

Thanks

 

[smorizio]

is not the speed of the ram or as ram vendors now have ddr-4 coming down the pike for us pc users.
it take anywhere from 2-5 years for changes to happens in pc or mac when it comes to big parts like that.
first a group of big wigs like intel and samsug for a group to start hashing out a standard for new ram. (like the old vhs vs beta max). once a standard is set vendor then start building new products to those spec. (wireless n).
most times with ram or cpu the products start out in the server part of computer land. make sure that the ram or drives are stable. if there no issue with the standard on the server end...vendors like intel add the new standard to there lower end chipsets for home and biz chipsets. you see it with intel c206 server chipset...turns into the x79 and the z77.
with video cards ati and nvidia all they have to do is make there new card works on the pci 2.0/ 3.0 standard. the card inside (gpu and ram) can be anything nvida and ati want to use.) the ddr3 ram is used on the low end cards for price.

 

[kimyeang88]

First they are not the same type of memory. However, we will not stuck with DDR3 because Intel is testing out DDR4 memory on server motherboard the end of this year. Intel will be rolling out DDR4 in 2013( for server only). For us, you will see DDR4 either the end of 2013 or 2014 .
.

 

[Pinhedd]

GDDR4 SGRAM and GDDR5 SGRAM are both based on DDR3 SDRAM. There are a handful of functional differences but nothing spectacular. The added functionality decreases the memory density (capacity per chip) but makes certain operations easier.

Graphics cards lay out their memory in parallel, often connecting chunks of ALUs to chunks of memory. Depending on the architecture this means that an ALU may only be able to access the memory that its 'chunk' is connected to. For the rest of the system this obviously cannot fly because the CPU needs to be able to access arbitrary data regardless of where it is in the SDRAM. This is one of the many things that makes CPUs ideal for sequential tasks and GPUs ideal for (some) parallel tasks

 

[muujig612]

Best answer selected by muujig612.

 

[muujig612]

GDDR4 SGRAM and GDDR5 SGRAM are both based on DDR3 SDRAM. There are a handful of functional differences but nothing spectacular. The added functionality decreases the memory density (capacity per chip) but makes certain operations easier.

Graphics cards lay out their memory in parallel, often connecting chunks of ALUs to chunks of memory. Depending on the architecture this means that an ALU may only be able to access the memory that its 'chunk' is connected to. For the rest of the system this obviously cannot fly because the CPU needs to be able to access arbitrary data regardless of where it is in the SDRAM. This is one of the many things that makes CPUs ideal for sequential tasks and GPUs ideal for (some) parallel tasks

So, what you're saying is that technology wise the gddr5 is ddr3 right? it's just a tweaked version of ddr3 suitable for graphic card processing, correct?

Then it means that there is no technological advancement in gddr5 over ddr3. such as smaller nm architecture chips and stuff like that.

I'm I correct? 😱

 

[Pinhedd]

So, what you're saying is that technology wise the gddr5 is ddr3 right? it's just a tweaked version of ddr3 suitable for graphic card processing, correct?

Then it means that there is no technological advancement in gddr5 over ddr3. such as smaller nm architecture chips and stuff like that.

I'm I correct? 😱

Yeah that's pretty much exactly what it is. It's more suited towards the memory access patterns used by GPUs. There's no technical reason why SGRAM can't be used for the CPU as well, the XBox 360 uses a unified hunk of GDDR3 for both its GPU and CPU.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey