Would you buy DDR5 for system RAM on PC if you could?
- Thread starter OriginofHysteria
- Start date
dream
Member
Seriously. "8GB of GDDR5" is the most grating thing I've read in a long time.
Baconsammy
Banned
They bumped 4 of something I don't understand to 8 of what I don't understand. 8 is more!
IHaveCandy
Banned
My guess is that video cards need higher bandwidth. A PC doesn't need as high of a bandwidth for general RAM storage. The way programs work on PC is they load the program, and the CPU plucks what it needs and calls for other assets and such to go in and out of RAM. It's a rather small amount of bandwidth needed. Once you've got it in RAM, you're good.
Video cards keep moving all sorts of assets into RAM to quickly process and display. Frame rate will get slowed down significantly if the video card cannot eject old assets and bring new assets fast enough. So you end up having to lower texture qualities and such to reduce bandwidth requirements.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
I wish someone would just make a good, explanatory post about how RAM works and what exactly GDDR5 (and DDR3) is. I'd do it but other people know a hell of a lot more about this stuff than I do and I'd probably screw it up.
shouamabane
Member
It has become some sort of mantra for console folks, it won't be long until someone claims that those 8 gbs could cure cancer.
This'll get some mileage in Gamingside before all is said and done.
MrCunningham
Member
Actually GDDR that would plug directly into the motherboard like standard RAM really isn't that bad of an idea (if it is even feasible, that is). I could see motherboard that could support one or two slots for it. It could really be beneficial for APU's and integrated graphics like the intel HD series. It could also be great for extending the life of GPU's without having to buy a new one. Or maybe it could help eliminate graphics cards all together and allow for LGA like GPU's that plug directly into the the mother board like a CPU would.
dream
Member
Imagine what Saddam Hussein could have done with 8GB of GDDR5.
mugurumakensei
Member
DDR4 isnt even out yet.
CountAntonius
Member
As someone who isn't the most tech savvy PC gamer around would someone like to explain the differences, advantages/disadvantages between GDDR5 and GDDR3 and possibly GDDR4 since it's being mentioned.
Why is GDDR5 only used in videocards for instance.
Twin Drive System
Member
From what I've gathered, GDDR5 is some derivative of DDR3.
System memory (DDR) has low latency at the expense of bandwidth. GDDR is the opposite. More practical for transferring large amounts of data.
DDR5 does not exist yet.
System memory (DDR) has low latency at the expense of bandwidth. GDDR is the opposite. More practical for transferring large amounts of data.
DDR5 does not exist yet.
I think people were surprised based on what was expected going into the "Playstation Meeting". Not sure why PC people are being smug and snarky though. Sharing knowledge is never a bad thing, but lording it over other people surely is!
i'm trying to remain good humoured about neogaf's elelvation of GDDR5 RAM to the single defining performance arbiter.
trying.
GDDR5 is good for pushing bulk (i.e textures), but not for doing the nitty gritty shitwork. whether the advantages of a single unified pool will overcome the disadvantages of using unsuitable RAM for certain tasks remains to be seen.
trying.
GDDR5 is good for pushing bulk (i.e textures), but not for doing the nitty gritty shitwork. whether the advantages of a single unified pool will overcome the disadvantages of using unsuitable RAM for certain tasks remains to be seen.
Kung Fu Grip
Banned
More angry people in this thread. I kinda wish sony should've stuck with 4GB and only MS used 8GB in their console. Then everything would be right in the world.
CPUs and GPUs have different RAM requirements.
CPUs want RAM with low latency, so they can very quickly access and move small chunks of data around.
GPUs want RAM with high bandwidth, so they can move large chunks of data.
DDR3 is suited for CPUs. It is low latency, but also low bandwidth. It is the defacto RAM found in PCs and servers. You spend $10,000 on a server, and it will use DDR3.
GDDR5 is suited for GPUs. It is high latency, but also high bandwidth. Graphics cars above level entry will use GDDR5 for VRAM.
The Xbox 360 was the pioneer for using GDDR (in its case, GDDR3) for both system and VRAM. The PS4 is following suit. While this might be fine for dedicate gaming machines, for genral purpose computing and CPU intensive work, you want low latency RAM. Which is currently DDR3.
There is a reason the next Xbox has gone for the DDR3 + EDRAM approach. MS have designed the console for more than games. The non gaming apps want DDR3. The EDRAM is there to mitigate the low bandwidth main RAM to a certain degree. Sony seem to have designed the PS4 as a pure bread gaming console. Different priorities resulted in different RAM architectures.
TL;DR you don't want GDDR5 as system RAM in a PC. When DDR5 finally comes to market, it might have best of both worlds. Low latency for CPUs and high bandwidth for GPUs. Only then would you want it as system RAM.
mugurumakensei
Member
That's pretty much the correct reason. Because it's low latency, it's easy to do context switches which is good for a PC since multiple applications can be running at any given point in time.
eSRAM and eDRAM are the only things offering both high bandwidth and low latency but they take up lots of space even in small quantities.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
Not as system memory in PCs, which is what the OP is referring to. More standard varieties in this case would be DDR2 and DDR3.
If I see another thread with G/DDR5 in the title I'm going to throw up my lungs.
It's like people have heard a new buzz word and aren't even bothering to find out what it is/what it means before waving it in everyones faces.
Sorry, not necessarily directed at OP. To answer your question: I'll wait to see how DDR4 pans out before thinking about DDR5 whenever that comes out. If you meant GDDR5 then I have an HD6870 which happily chugs along with 1GB GDDR5 and has done for a year or so now.
It's like people have heard a new buzz word and aren't even bothering to find out what it is/what it means before waving it in everyones faces.
Sorry, not necessarily directed at OP. To answer your question: I'll wait to see how DDR4 pans out before thinking about DDR5 whenever that comes out. If you meant GDDR5 then I have an HD6870 which happily chugs along with 1GB GDDR5 and has done for a year or so now.
CountAntonius
Member
KojiKnight
Member
Since no one is really addressing the perceived question... (edit) someone did and I was just blind. Hur hur hur...
CPUs as they currently are do not even reach the limits of the bandwidth DDR3 offers. While of course there are tons of synthetic benchmarks showing how great DDR3 2133 is compared to DDR3 1600, true system performance gains are generally less than 1%. Current CPUs are just not bandwidth starved in the vast majority of situations with system ram.
CPUs as they currently are do not even reach the limits of the bandwidth DDR3 offers. While of course there are tons of synthetic benchmarks showing how great DDR3 2133 is compared to DDR3 1600, true system performance gains are generally less than 1%. Current CPUs are just not bandwidth starved in the vast majority of situations with system ram.
I just keep picturing Spinal Tap whenever I see people talking about it.
Glass Rebel
Member
It's actually the only reason I'm buying a PS4, to get that subsidized 8 GB GDDRSSJ5 and insert it in my PC's A2M slots.
As it stands now even a 2560X1440 display does not come close to using 2GB of video memory outside of something like tons of Skyrim mods being tacked on.
it's the standout feature of an otherwise mediocre spec console from a manufacturer with a huge proprietary fanbase around here.
you'll be seeing it a lot.
Seriously. stupidity is in full force on this forum
something fishy
Member
Exactly this. It's the new pixie dust that those who hang on the words of marketeers will cling too.
Singularity42
Member
XDR RAM
Just gunna throw that one out there
Just gunna throw that one out there
Portugeezer
Member
Nah, let's pretend that GDDR5 hasn't been in PC graphics cards since 2008
Metalmurphy
Member
I've been gaming on PCs for over 20 years and I still thing it's a pretty big deal, because, well, 8GB GDDR5 of unified RAM for system and gpu is kind of a big deal, no matter how hard you try to downplay it.
phosphor112
Banned
It's not DDR5, it's GDDR5.
G
GGUUUUUUUH!
G
GGUUUUUUUH!
KojiKnight
Member
Not sure what both worlds you mean. High latency isn't a "plus" for gaming, it's just less of a minus than it is for PCs.
Projectjustice
Banned
Are you guys really this bad when it comes to tech! At least read up on things first.
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