Samsung doubles graphics memory density

Samsung Electronics said today that it has made a memory manufacturing breakthrough that allows it to produce a graphics memory chip that is faster than any other on the market.

The company has begun shipping what it claims is the world's first 512Mb GDDR3 synchronous DRam memory device for graphics card makers and games console manufacturers. The JEDEC-standard operates at up to 1.6Gbps.

The Samsung device has at least twice the density of any graphics memory available today, offering gamers much richer textures and imagery, the electronics giant said.

"With our new 512Mb GDDR3 memory we can provide sharply improved performance, reduced power consumption and more efficient space utilisation for 512Mb graphics cards," said Mueez Deen, director of marketing for graphics memory at Samsung Semiconductor.

Market analysts predict that the 2005 graphics DRam market will be 30 per cent higher than this year's figure, reaching close to $1.47bn. Mass production of the GDDR3 will begin early next year.