Memory Bandwidth
The rate at which data can be read from or written to memory, measured in GB/s. Critical for GPU performance and AI workloads. Determined by memory type, bus width, and clock speed.
What is memory bandwidth?
Memory bandwidth measures how much data can flow between a processor and its memory per second, measured in GB/s. It's determined by three factors: memory clock speed, bus width (how many data lines), and memory type (GDDR6, GDDR7, DDR5).
Formula: Bandwidth = Clock Speed × Bus Width × 2 (double data rate) / 8 (bits to bytes)
Example: The RTX 5090 has GDDR7 at 28 Gbps on a 512-bit bus = 1,792 GB/s. The RTX 5070 has GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus = 672 GB/s. That 2.7× bandwidth difference is why the 5090 handles 4K and AI workloads so much better.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does memory bandwidth affect gaming?
Yes, especially at higher resolutions. GPUs need to read textures, write frame buffers, and process shader data constantly. Low bandwidth creates a bottleneck where the GPU has the compute power but can't feed data fast enough. This is why memory bus width and type (GDDR7 > GDDR6 > GDDR6X) matter.