On a graphics card, which is better: DDR3 or GDDR3 memory?

I'd like to know more about it because I'm curious about the ATI card on the notebook I recently bought.

 

DDR is usually system memory and GDDR is made for graphics, hence the G. They usually run cooler at high clocks I believe.

 

altho gddr3 is based on ddr2, it should still be faster than ddr3.
gddr mems are always optimized for usage in gfx cards (internal terminators + transfers 4 bits of data per pin in 2 clock cycles).
however, i'm not 100% sure here.. are there actually cards with ddr3? i thought most use either gddr3 or ddr2 (cheapo)..

ddr3 is so much newer than ddr2 that i'd actually suspect it could surpass gddr3 taking into consideration that gddr3 is based on ddr2 and modern gfx cards already use gddr5. dunno what to conclude.

 

Ok. I recently bought the Asus n61jq-a1 notebook, and the specs on it say it has DDR3 graphics memory, I asked an asus sales rep also, he said it was DDR3 but I'm not so sure that he was knowledgable about it. Do you think the gpu-z utility will tell what's really on the card?

 

No it will not. Right after Mibility Radeon 5650 has been introduced notebookcheck or notebookjournall tested it and disassembled it too.
While the actual chips on that Compal made notebook were DDR3 GPU-Z still claimed these were GDDR3.
Mine also shows GDDR3 but in reality there is no way of knowing without looking inside the unit which involves removing heatsink and so on. Too much fuss especially that you can't do anything about it anyway.

 

DDR(#) usually means shared video memory, so it's not a dedicated graphics card. GDDR3 means it has dedicated video memory, meaning the GPU itself is a dedicated GPU.

A dedicated GPU with its own GDDR memory is always better than a shared memory GPU.

 

Actually I think you are mistaken.

Discrete cards come with it's own memory, and a lot of them come with DDR2 VRAM.
Discrete gpu's are capable of sharing video memory by utilizing system RAM, however, that usually doesn't happen if the gpu in question is say a mid-range one.
The difference between DDR2 and GDDR3 is in the fact that the latter has about twice the bandwidth.
But make no mistakes ... if a gpu is a dedicated one and comes with say 256 Mb DDR2 RAM, then that Video RAM is dedicated (part of the gpu), and not the system RAM.

 

GDDR3 is better than DDR3 but unlike DDR2 and GDDR3 mnemory , there is little difference in between DDR3 and GDDR3...but its better to have GDDR5 which is the fastest video memory so far.

 

Have to disagree here, you can mount most any modern type of memory on a GPU, just being DDR with no G for "graphics" does not mean at all it's using RAM since RAM itself is quite slow for graphics cards, when it gets used at all, it serves as more of a cache for textures, so that they are ready to use and be fed into the GPU for effect processing like antialiasing, anistrophic filtering or, tesselation, at a faster more efficient rate than having to fetch them from a hard drive which is snail speed compared to RAM, and system RAM is relatively slow when compared to the memory modules found on or built specifically, and dedicated to the GPU. That is the reason for "dedicated", the VRAM is/was only intended to be used by the GPU and nothing else, it was optimized specifically for the GPU, usually much lower latency than regular system RAM.

Also, what made you think that just because it's not "graphics" VRAM with the G in front, it's shared? I had an X300 GPU using plain old DDR VRAM, yet i was using DDR2 RAM on the laptop, so the bottom line is, unless it's using a technology like HyperMemory (ATI) or "i forget" (nVidia), a GPU always has it's dedicated and optimized VRAM for itself.

 

I see. Your comments are helpful. I think both ddr3 and gddr3 should be about the same in performance if gddr3 is based on ddr2 technology. I don't know the specifics but your answers are good enough. Gpu-z says my notebook has gddr3 memory, but it might not be true as everywhere else says something else. I thank you for your comments. It's interesting just to know what technology is in the notebook.

 

Take note that some sellers mistakenly put DDR3 in place of GDDR3 sometimes. And on NBR too, users commonly refer to GDDR3 as DDR3 sometimes.

 

Ok. I'll keep that in mind.

 

well, what's ur lappie? i mean, my lappie has an specifications page at the manufacturer's page which has the gfx mem listed as gddr3, maybe yours has too? u could take a look.

 

I have an Asus n61jq-a1. It has the ATI 5730. The manufacturer's page says it has DDR3 memory, and anywhere you check the specs it says the same thing. So I'm guessing it does has DDR3 memory, only gpu-z says that it has GDDR3.

 

well i found many results stating it's gddr3 too, don't know what to conclude. :/

 

I personally do not believe ANY discrete graphics cards come with standard DDR memory. All models come with GDDR memory.

I think this entire thread is moot. Only compare GDDR versus other GDDR, i.e. GDDR5 > GDD3. There is no case where a graphics card will make use of DDR, because no graphics cards have ever been manufactured with DDR memory.

I'd need to see a REALLY good source to be convinced otherwise (AnandTech, etc).

In other words. If you call someone and they say the GPU uses DDR3, assume they are stupid and mean GDDR3.

(Edit: All claims made by me come with the internet guarantee.)

 

Well what a show- lack of knowledge and utter lack of culture in one person.
So go on assuming people are stupid but first take a break to look at the specs for HD5730 as an example

Source good enough?
Now look here at Compal made notebook review and where by disassembling the unit it's been discovered that it is equipped with these DDR3 chips while GPU-Z claimed GDDR3

Thank you for your cooperation. You can assume I'm stupid now.

 

Hey dude, I didn't mean to personally offend you. I was referring to the people he called on the phone. I don't think you're stupid.

Your evidence is very compelling. But I still don't believe it. Regardless of how the memory is labeled and sold as, I don't think it is structurally set up in more than one way to interface as on card memory.

The biggest counter-argument to my claim is your link to the ATI specs sheet for the 5730, but I can't be sure that the DDR3 interface is for the card or for shared memory.

Also, while there is a spec for DDR3 memory at 800 megahertz, if it's moving at 3.2 Gbps something seems off, it should be moving faster, no? Then again 52 billion fetches a second does line up pretty close to 51.2 Gb/s of DDR3 at 800 MHz.

In other words, I'm one of those internet punks who can't be convinced I'm wrong. But no worries, if you're right, you're right. And I'm going to say with your evidence the odds are in your favor and I'm just stubborn.

EDIT: I change my mind, the data in the translated article is the most compelling. Pretty much a slam dunk. But something seems pretty fishy to me anyway. I mean, I'm sure you're right. I still find it hard to believe though.

 

I'm not offended at all
But still think you should have researched it a bit before making claim like these.
I cannot prove it in any other way as any marking on these supposedly DDR3 chips in the review are not visible. Still I don't think reviewers had a reason to lie about it.
I suspect GDDR3 is just more expensive than DDR3 and that would explain why on earth is it even used.

 

ati started using ddr3 as video memory in their hd4600s. they did it because ddr3 was becoming mainstream and thus cheaper. nvidia followed with some of their low end cards. so don't be surprised.

 

This would explain why I've never heard about it before!!

Very interesting!