Memory specialist SK hynix has just released its Q2 2017 databook. This short document is a basic PDF product catalogue and the particular databook we are eyeing with interest is concerned with graphics memory. The latest databook includes various graphics memory chips and their availability schedules, amongst them GDDR6 and HBM2.
GDDR6
Last month we noted that SK hynix had introduced 8Gb GDDR6 DRAM to its product portfolio. Its new 20nm 8Gb chips were said to operate as fast as 16Gbps per pin, a DRAM industry record. SK hynix theorised about graphics cards equipped with these memory chips being capable of offering a bandwidth of up to 768GBps.
At the time of the above news we didn't have word of availability. Now, thanks to the databook, we can see that SK hynix will be shipping two types of 8Gb GDDR6 SDRAM (14.0Gbps and 12.0Gbps) to manufacturers in Q4 2017. That timescale is very much in line with rivals Samsung and Micron.
It is thought that GDDR6 will find its way into some Nvidia Volta consumer graphics card products.
HBM2
Remember yesterday there was some news concerning AMD Vega graphics cards launching at the end of May and becoming available from 5th June onwards? Well, these products will need some HBM2 memory chips. Here's another piece of the puzzle slotting in nicely - the latest SK hynix databook signals that HBM2 memory will be available in Q2 2017 - the current quarter.
Nvidia will also be using some of the SK hynix HBM2 output for its Tesla V100 accelerator cards, based around a Volta architecture GPU, announced just last week. Its not certain if gamer-targetted Volta-based graphics cards will come packing HBM2 but it is likely at the higher end.
