It seems NVIDIA’s GeForce 20-series GPUs based on Volta architecture featuring GDDR6 memory is going to launch early next year.

The reports broke after SK Hynix officially confirmed in a press release that the company’s brand new GDDR6 memory standard aimed at high-performance graphics processor will be available early next year. So, any brand new high-performance GPUs encompassing these forthcoming GDDR6 memory will have to wait till early 2018.

Expectedly, Hynix refrained from specifying any client graphics company, and neither did it mention any particular product line that will be making use of its next-generation GDDR6 memory modules. However, thanks to the rumor mills, we have known for awhile that NVIDIA’s forthcoming Volta architecture will be powered by GDDR6 (and so will AMD’s Navi GPUs — probably!).

Worth noting, the new memory standard is optimized to offer a much higher performance output at a voltage somewhere around 10% below that of the previous-generation GDDR5, as well as GDDR5X. That essentially implies that the new technology will bring along a significant surge in power efficiency advantage.

Needless to say, that will further incentivize GPU makers, prompting them to exploit all the benefits across all market segments by capitalizing on the power efficiency gains — and that, even in all those scenarios where GDDR5 and GDDR5X would be deemed fast enough.

“With the introduction of this industry’s fastest GDDR6, SK Hynix will actively respond to high quality, high performance graphics memory solutions market” said senior vice president Jonghoon Oh, the Head of DRAM Product Development Division. “The Company would help our clients enhance their performance of high-end graphics cards” he added.

Note that earlier unconfirmed reports had speculated that the GeForce GTX 20-series release date would fall sometime in Q3 2017.

[Via]