GDDR5/512-bit

[mrgoodkat]

Is there any actual benefit from having a 512-bit memory controller running GDDR5? Is the GPU a bottleneck?

From what I gather it is, but it also doesn't seem as cut 'n dry as that. That there could indeed be some benefit in other ways. Can anyone put it into layman's terms, either way?

[BossBorot]

the benefit of gddr5 is that it is quad data rate which gives you the same effective bandwidth that older gddr, double data rate, would give on a 2x larger bit interface. Currently the only places that would take advantage of gddr5 on a 512 bit interface would be massive resolution, like beyond 2560x1600 a la eyefinity, and high end business applications where something along the lines of a Quadro would be used.

Currently the dye space is just not worth it. With the reduced dye space you can make more gpu cores per waffer which means more profit.

Nvidia will do it before ati due to differing design philosophy and the business market being more important to nVidia then it is to ati.

[mrgoodkat]

Its just that I have a friend who started a fledgling printing/GFX shop, and while he is new to this, he has some GFX knowledge from a previous career, and some serious gripes about his options as someone who cannot afford Quadro. He cannot really wait for the 300 series with its somewhat beefier memory controller, and he isn't exactly happy with the idea of running extreme resolutions on the 5900 series, minus CUDA.