Samsung Develops World’s Fastest Graphics Memory

By Kim Yoo-chul

Staff Reporter

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest DRAM manufacturer by revenue, said it has developed the industry’s fastest memory chip with a density of 512-megabytes ― a GDDR5.

The development of the faster, higher-end chip underlines chipmakers’ efforts to buffer profits from steadily declining chip prices.

The series five, graphics double-data-rate memory chips can transfer data at 6 gigabits per second, which is more than four times faster than those in the latest game consoles today.

The graphics memory is also capable of transmitting moving images and associated data at 24 gigabytes per second or processing up to 16 DVD quality videos while saving 20 percent in power consumption over today’s most popular graphics chip.

Graphics memory chips are commonly installed in personal computers, workstations and game consoles requiring vivid and dynamic images.

``By using a finer 60-nanometer processing technology, we will mass-produce the chips during the first half of 2008. Samples of the new chips have already been delivered to major graphic processor companies last month,’’ said the company.

``The new GDDR5 will spur software developers to move a new level of eye-popping games,’’ Samsung officials said.

According to estimates from Mercury, a market research firm, the graphics memory chip business is expected to rise to $3.7 billion by 2011 from around $2.9 billion this year.