Micron has made a number of announcements in recent weeks regarding its GDDR memory for graphics cards, game consoles and networking applications. The company is reporting that theyve been able to hit 16 Gbps data rates in the lab on their latest generation of GDDR5X devices, while also reiterating their long-term plans for GDDR6 and GDDR5, with GDDR6 memory due in a couple of quarters from now, while GDDR5 will be here to stay for a long time to come.

Graphics DRAM has been a hot topic in the industry in the recent years as GPU demands for memory bandwidth are growing rapidly and because different companies offer different types of memory to satisfy these increasing requirements. For example, SK Hynix and Samsung rolled out HBM (Gen 1 and Gen 2) memory in 2015 and 2016 for ultra-high-end consumer and HPC applications, whereas Micron introduced its GDDR5X for high-end graphics cards last year. At present, HBM offers the greatest potential bandwidth, however the complexity of the multi-layer chips and 2.5D packaging keep costs high, so it remains to be seen which mass consumer applications adopt it. Meanwhile, conventional graphics memory in BGA packaging and proven architecture continues to evolve and hit new performance targets due to architectural improvements, which are intended to keep it competitive in the coming years.