NVIDIA Could Opt For GDDR6 Memory For Its GeForce RTX 4070 GPUs In Light of GDDR6X Shortages

The GDDR6X memory shortage might force Nvidia to adopt GDDR6 memory for the high-end GPUs such as the RTX 4070.

NVIDIA Might Switch Some of Its GPUs Such As The GeForce RTX 4070 To GDDR6 Memory Due To GDDR6X Shortages

One of the reasons why most NVIDIA high-end GPUs perform great at higher resolutions despite boasting a narrower memory bus than AMD GPUs is due to their faster GDDR6X memory (along with increased cache).

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However, it is now being reported that NVIDIA might face a shortage of GDDR6X memory modules soon. The original story originates from Board channels(via benchlife), which say that the GDDR6X memory may not be available abundantly, creating a shortage as soon as August.

NVIDIA outsources the GDDR6X memory from Micron but due to the failed quality checks of a GDDRX6 memory modules batch, the memory supply can be disrupted. This may force NVIDIA to produce some of the mid-range RTX 40 series GPUs like GeForce RTX 4070 with the slower GDDR6 memory. However, this requires changes to the GPU die itself along with several hardware and software-level tweaks. If it happens, it can result in a performance throttle at higher resolutions, particularly in the case of RTX 4070, which uses a 192-bit memory bus.

The shortage will not only affect the production of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 but also the higher-end cards that utilize GDDR6X memory modules. There are several SKUs above the 4070, including its SUPER and Ti editions, the RTX 4080/Super, and the RTX 4090, all of which utilize GDDR6X to achieve high memory bandwidth. The GDDR6X is currently the fastest VRAM type available on the RTX 40 GPUs, running at 21Gbps effective memory speed and up to 23 Gbps on the RTX 4080 SUPER. On the other hand, GDDR6 typically maxes out at 18Gbps on modern GPUs, which can reduce the overall memory bandwidth noticeably.

Nonetheless, it's still a rumor and thankfully, the disruption