NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs: same memory interface as RTX 40 series, with next-gen GDDR7

NVIDIA's next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" gaming GPUs will feature a memory interface configuration that's not a big departure from the current-gen RTX 50 "Ada Lovelace" GPUs.

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In a new post on X, leaker "kopite7kimi" said that "although I still have fantasies about 512-bit, the memory interface configuration of GB20x is not much different from that of AD10x." To give some context there, "GB20x" are the GPU SKUs of the next-gen Blackwell GPUs, while AD10x are the SKUs for Ada Lovelace. AD102 powers the GeForce RTX 4090, for example.

NVIDIA will be upgrading to next-gen GDDR7 memory on its GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards, where if we see the same 384-bit memory bus on the next-gen RTX 5090, we should expect a 50% upgrade in memory bandwidth with the slowest GDDR7 memory providing the RTX 5090 with 1.5TB/sec of memory bandwidth (the RTX 4090 has 1TB/sec memory bandwidth).

This means we probably won't see huge VRAM capacity upgrades, with a new RTX 5090 launching with 24GB of GDDR7 offering a 50% memory bandwidth upgrade (and the GPU performance upgrades from Blackwell). There's no need for 48GB right now, or even 32GB... but I think the fact that the RTX 3090 Ti and RTX 4090 both had 24GB of VRAM... the monster RTX 5090 needs an upgrade in VRAM capacity.

• Read more: The first-gen GDDR7-based graphics cards will use 16Gb dies, 32Gbps speeds
• Read more: JEDEC publishes GDDR7 memory standard: NVIDIA's next-gen memory is ready
• Read more: NVIDIA is the only one buying large amounts of GDDR7 for next-gen GPUs
• Read more: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 'Blackwell' GPUs ready to launch in Q4 2024
• Read more: NVIDIA rumored to mandate PCIe 6.0 power connector for RTX 50 series GPUs

4K 240FPS and 8K 120FPS gaming will be the targets of ultra-enthusiast PC gamers with the next-gen GeForce RTX 5090... so I can imagine 32GB or 48GB of GDDR7 would be something NVIDIA would do... especially if it wants to put its boot into AMD's neck even further and kill off any chance RDNA 4 can come close to even its mid-tier Blackwell GPUs.

That's if NVIDIA goes with GDDR7 clocked at 32Gbps, as these numbers will only skyrocket with 36Gbps or higher GDDR7 memory speeds.

We should expect to see:

• GB202 with a 384-bit memory bus
• GB203 with a 256-bit memory bus
• GB204 with a 192-bit memory bus
• GB206 with a 128-bit memory bus
• GB107 with a 128-bit memory bus

GDDR7 memory @ 32Gbps memory bandwidth expected:

• 128-bit @ 32Gbps: 512GB/s (8GB)
• 192-bit @ 32Gbps: 768GB/s (12GB)
• 256-bit @ 32Gbps: 1024GB/s (16GB)
• 320-bit @ 32Gbps: 1280GB/s (20GB)
• 384-bit @ 32Gbps: 1536GB/s (24GB)
• 512-bit @ 32Gbps: 2048GB/s (32GB)

We should also expect NVIDIA to finally enter the world of DisplayPort 2.1 connectivity with Blackwell, something that current-gen GPU owners can't use. There are some on the market already, but new waves of gaming monitors offering 4K 240Hz insanity will need DP2.1, something NVIDIA doesn't have... until the RTX 50 series GPUs.

It would be good to see NVIDIA offering plenty of VRAM this time around, where -- at least in my opinion --