South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. said on Sunday that it has developed the graphics double data rate 6 (GDDR6) memory chip designed for graphic processors. This is an upgrade of the GDDR5 boasting of faster data transferring speed than its predecessor.

The world’s second-largest memory chipmaker claimed that its 20-nano level 8 gigabit (Gb) GDDR6 can transfer data at 16 Gb per second (Gbps) per pin, which is by far the fastest speed offered in the industry. By utilizing 384 input and output (I/O) modules that are most commonly adopted by high-quality graphic cards, the memory chip can send graphic data of up to 768 gigabytes (GB) per second.

SK Hynix aims to start to mass produce the latest graphic memory chip early next year when its customers are expected to launch their next-generation high-quality graphic cards loaded with high-performance graphic dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips.

The Graphics DRAM is a memory chip designed to speedily process videos and graphics upon demand from graphic cards in personal computers, work stations, video-playing devices, and high-performance game machines. The GDDR6 is considered the next-generation and high-performance graphics DRAM that can offer twice the maximum speed of the existing GDDR5 while saving operating voltage by more than 10 percent, the company said.

According to market research company Gartner, the load volume of the graphic card-use DRAM is expected to expand from an average of 2.2GB this year to 4.1GB in 2021, showing an average annual growth rate of 17 percent.

By Lee Dong-in

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