Micron’s ridiculously fast GDDR6X video memory could make the Nvidia RTX 4090 obsolete
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Micron has revealed that it is working on new super-fast GDDR6X video memory, which will be powering the upcoming next-generation Nvidia GPUs, including the rumored RTX 4090.
While GDDR6X has been included in the ultra-high-end RTX 3090 Ti GPU at 21Gbps, it looks like the RTX 4090, 4080, and 4070 will all use that speed of GDDR6X, with the amount and memory bus being different between models.
So, rumors suggest the GeForce RTX 4070 will come with 12GB of GDDR6X at 21 Gbps, along with a 192-bit memory bus.
The GeForce RTX 4080 is rumored to have 16GB of GDDR6X at 21 Gbps, and a larger 256-bit memory bus.
The Flagship RTX 4090, then, could come with 24GB of GDDR6X memory at 21 Gbps and a 384-bit memory bus.
These numbers alone suggest a big performance increase over the previous generation of Nvidia GPUs – but it seems that Micron is holding back its very fastest memory for a mystery Nvidia GPU instead.
Analysis: What is this mystery GPU?
The latest leaks have appeared on Twitter (see below), and they suggest that not only is Micron making 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory – but also 24 Gbps GDDR6X memory.
If true, this would be incredibly fast memory – and certainly the fastest we’ve seen on a consumer GPU.
24Gbps가 있었는지 몰랐네… pic.twitter.com/yaLhbcx8EDAugust 8, 2022
But, if it’s not coming to the flagship RTX 4090, which many people assume will be the most powerful of the RTX 4000 series ‘Lovelace’ GPUs. So, if it’s not going to appear in the RTX 4090, where will it show up?
Current rumors suggest that Nvidia is working on a mystery GPU, which could be a new entry it its line of Titan graphics cards. These are supremely powerful GPUs that straddle the line between consumer gaming GPUs and professional-grade graphics cards, and showcase the very best hardware Nvidia has made.
There hasn’t been a Titan since the RTX Titan back in 2018, which was built on Nvidia’s Turing architecture.
There was no Titan released during the RTX 3000 “Ampere” architecture years, and many people assumed the RTX 3090 (and then RTX 3090 Ti) had replaced it, with better performance and lower price.
However, there are rumors that Nvidia is going to release an incredibly powerful GPU with 48GB of GDDR6X memory, which could run at those 24 Gbps speeds.
Such a GPU would be outrageously powerful and would dwarf even the mighty RTX 4090 when it comes to power.
Does that mean this mystery GPU could have made the RTX 4090 obsolete already? After all, many people planning to splurge on the RTX 4090 are doing so because they want the very best cutting-edge tech from Nvidia.
Instead, they may be tempted to go for this much more powerful GPU. However, it’s worth pointing out that these rumored specs suggest a GPU that would offer more power than anyone really needs right now. For playing PC games, then, this spec would be a bit wasted, and you’d end up paying for a GPU you don’t use to its full potential.
On the other hand, if you’re a creative professional that needs some seriously heavy-duty graphics performance, this could be a great investment. Alongside raw performance, the mystery GPU will likely be very expensive – and with a rumored power draw of 800W, you’d likely need a new PSU to handle it – and that’s before we even go into the impact running this might have on your energy bills.
So, while this mystery GPU is shaping up to be pretty exciting, we still think the RTX 4090 will be the ultimate gaming GPU in the end.