SK Hynix shows off HBM 2 wafer at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event

SK Hynix shows off the next generation of GPU memory, HBM 2, at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event.

@anthony256

Published Mar 19, 2015 3:56 PM CDT
Updated Nov 3, 2020 1:09 PM CST

37 seconds read time

GTC 2015 - We didn't expect to see HBM 2 shown off in person here at NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference, but here we are - SK Hynix has a HBM 2 wafer on the show floor, and it's beautiful.

SK Hynix shows off HBM 2 wafer at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event 01

VIEW GALLERY - 5 IMAGES

SK Hynix shows off HBM 2 wafer at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event 02

Here it is, in all of it's glory.

SK Hynix shows off HBM 2 wafer at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event 03

A closer shot of the wafer itself.

SK Hynix's HBM memory promises increased bandwidth, as well as lower power consumption compared to conventional DRAM found on current cards, such as GDDR5.

SK Hynix shows off HBM 2 wafer at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event 04

We haven't even got HBM1 out yet, but HBM2 is promising so much more. HBM1 will have 128GB/sec per 1Gbit chip, while HBM2 will offer double that, with 256GB/sec with 2Gbit chips. We are also going to see lower power consumption, with 1.2V for HBM1 and HBM2, compared to GDDR5 which uses 1.35 to 1.5V.

SK Hynix shows off HBM 2 wafer at NVIDIA's GTC 2015 event 05

Here you can see just how small these HBM1 chips are compared to a GDDR5 chip.

Anthony Garreffa

Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed 100s of graphics cards. Anthony is a long time PC enthusiast with a passion of hate for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the pre-Quake days, where you were insulted if you used a mouse to aim, he has been addicted to gaming and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him great experience with custom-built PCs. His addiction to GPU tech is unwavering and has recently taken a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.