AMD boosts graphics performance

AMD's GDDR5 technology will feature in next-generation ATI Radeon graphics cards

AMD has unveiled the first commercial implementation of its Graphics Double Data Rate version 5 (GDDR5) memory.

The high-speed, high-bandwidth GDDR5 technology will feature in AMD's forthcoming next-generation ATI Radeon graphics cards.

AMD has partnered with memory providers, including Samsung, Hynix and Qimonda, to bring GDDR5 to market.

The company said that today's GPU performance is limited by the rate at which data can be moved on and off the graphics chip, which in turn is limited by the memory interface width and die size.

The higher data rates supported by GDDR5 (up to 5x that of GDDR3 and 4x that of GDDR4) enable more bandwidth over a narrower memory interface, which translates into superior performance delivered from smaller, more cost-effective chips.

"The days of monolithic mega-chips are gone," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's Graphics Product Group.

"AMD believes that GDDR5 is the optimal way to drive performance gains while being mindful of power consumption."

AMD expects that PC graphics will benefit from the increase in memory bandwidth for a variety of intensive applications.

PC gamers will have the potential to play at high resolutions and image quality settings, with "superb overall gaming performance".

PC applications will have the potential to benefit from fast load times, with superior responsiveness and multi-tasking, according to AMD.