• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Technipages

Tutorials and fixes for smartphone, gadget, and computer problems

  • Topics
    • Android
    • Browsers
    • Gaming
    • Hardware
    • Internet
    • iPhone
    • Linux
    • macOS
    • Office
    • Reviews
    • Software
    • Windows
    • Definitions
  • Product Reviews
  • Downloads
  • About
What’s the Difference Between DDR and GDDR Memory?

What’s the Difference Between DDR and GDDR Memory?

August 12, 2020 by Mel Hawthorne Leave a Comment

Modern graphics cards generally use a form of GDDR memory as VRAM, with GDDR5, GDDR5X, and GDDR6 being the common standards in 2020. System RAM generally uses DDR4 memory although older computers will still be found with DDR3 RAM.

Tip: DDR stands for Double Data Rate, while the G in GDDR stands for Graphics.

What is RAM?

RAM or Random-Access Memory, is a form of memory placed between the long term memory (SSD or HDD) and the processor. RAM, or VRAM (Video RAM) in the case of graphics cards, is essentially used to cache data so that it can be accessed faster, reducing how long the processor has to wait for the data it needs to perform calculations.

You don’t require a specific version of VRAM to work with any version of RAM, or vice-versa, as the two memory types are exclusively used by their respective processors.

What are the use cases for RAM vs VRAM?

Both DDR RAM and GDDR VRAM are optimised for the specific type of tasks that they are designed to perform. For example, system RAM is designed for extremely low latency, so small bits of data can be accessed as fast as possible.

In comparison, VRAM is primarily designed to move very large amounts of data. This is because the two most common graphics card workloads are graphics rendering, that uses high-resolution textures, and computer simulations, which have huge data sets. As such VRAM has a much wider memory bus which allows for much greater bandwidth.

So, while the exact differences between each generation of DDR and GDDR memory vary, the main difference is that they prioritise a different metric. DDR memory, prioritises low latency, whereas GDDR prioritises high-bandwidth.

Tip: It may sound that GDDR5 VRAM is a generation ahead of DDR4 RAM, however, this isn’t actually the case. The two technologies progress independently of each other. GDDR5 is more closely related to DDR3 than it is to DDR4.

You Might Also Like

  • What Is the Difference Between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0?
    What Is the Difference Between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0?
  • Windows 10 Home and Pro: What's The Difference?
    Windows 10 Home and Pro: What's The Difference?
  • Difference Between Windows 11 Home and Pro: Everything You Need to Know
    Difference Between Windows 11 Home and Pro: Everything You…
  • What’s the Difference Between Post and Get Requests?
    What’s the Difference Between Post and Get Requests?
  • The Difference Between HDDs and SDDs
    The Difference Between HDDs and SDDs
  • What's the Difference Between Android TV and Roku TV?
    What's the Difference Between Android TV and Roku TV?

Filed Under: Hardware

Reader Interactions

Did this help? Let us know!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • How to Print Labels from Excel Using MS Word Mail Merge
  • What Is NVMe Over TCP (NVMe/TCP)
  • Android Mobile Hotspot: How to Change the Password and Name
  • Windows 10: How to Force Quit and App
  • What is Dumpster Diving?
  • How to Download iOS 16 Beta 3 on iPhone or iPad
  • What is a Security Compromise?
  • Mastodon: How to DM Someone

Who’s Behind Technipages?

Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

You May Also Like

  • Bubble Memory
  • Paging Memory
  • Random Access Memory (RAM)

© Copyright 2023 Guiding Tech Media · All Rights Reserved · Privacy