AMD is adding driver support for the upcoming Radeon RX 7000-series graphics cards. The add-on is based on the RDNA 3 architecture. Consequently, various hardware investigators and enthusiasts have started to reveal the latest information about the upcoming GPUs. The latest discovery of the week entails the news that AMD’s next-generation flagship GPU is all set to incorporate a 384-bit memory interface.
The details say that AMD’s Navi 31 graphics processor, also known as SoC15 in AMD’s drivers, supports six 64-bit memory controller dies. It is AMD’s new name for the controllers. Additionally, VideoCardz discovers the fact that AMD’s driver patch code is published by Freedesktop.
It is the first time AMD is using the terminology MCD for its memory controller. Previously, the company called it UMC (unified memory controller) for HBM and GDDR memory subsystems. Although the term ‘die’ certainly holds a solid meaning, it is yet not confirmed if AMD’s Navi 31 uses separate dies or chiplets for memory controllers.
Usually, PC memory interfaces are 64-bit wide. Therefore, six 64-bit controllers have the capability to provide a 384-bit memory to AMD’s Navi 31. It is 50% wider than the Navi 21 controller. At this stage, we should keep AMD’s next-generation GPU in mind. It naturally should have more compute oomph compared to the current one. It should also require more memory bandwidth. So, a wider memory interface suits the requirement, though more Infinity Cache can also be considered sufficient.
If we put things into proper context, a 384-bit 18 GT/s memory subsystem provides a peak 864 GB/s bandwidth. The spec is significantly higher than Radeon RX 6900 XT’s 512GB/s and half the time more than the RX 6950 XT’s 576 GB/s. However, a wider memory interface is also more expensive to implement due to its requirement for more die space. If AMD’s Navi 31 actually emerges with a 384-bit memory bus, it would indirectly signify that the brand aims to position its upcoming flagship GPU at a higher level compared to the current-generation Navi 21. But we do not know if it will mean a higher recommended rate for the brand’s next-gen flagship. However, we can consider it a possibility.
Note that the information is collected from an unofficial source and, therefore, is unconfirmed. AMD is reluctant to comment on its unreleased product. Moreover, they edited the source code path after the initial change. The only certain thing is that RDNA 3 is set to feature some form of GPU chiplets. Also, the GPU cores will base on TSMC’s 5nm N5 process.
