Side-by-Side Comparison
Graphics Cards
GDDR5 vs. PCIe
Comparing 2 standards across 9 specifications. 9 key differences identified.
Comparing:
GDDR5
PCIe
GDDR5 was the dominant graphics memory standard from its 2008 commercial debut through the mid-to-late 2010s, running a 32-bit bus per chip at data rates that grew from around 3.6 Gbit/s at launch to 8 Gbit/s in later products, before GDDR6 began succeeding it.
PCIe is the interface standard graphics cards connect through, typically using all 16 lanes of a slot for maximum bandwidth. Each generation has roughly doubled per-lane throughput since 2003, from PCIe 1.0's 250 MB/s per lane to PCIe 6.0's 7.56 GB/s per lane using a new PAM4 signaling scheme.
Specification Comparison Table
9 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Commercial Introduction
|
2008 (AMD Radeon HD 4870) | — |
|
Bus Width
|
32-bit per chip | — |
|
Data Rate Range
|
~3.6–8 Gbit/s per pin | — |
|
PCIe 1.0 (2003)
|
— | 0.25 GB/s/lane | 4 GB/s x16 |
|
PCIe 2.0 (2007)
|
— | 0.5 GB/s/lane | 8 GB/s x16 |
|
PCIe 3.0 (2010)
|
— | 0.985 GB/s/lane | 15.75 GB/s x16 |
|
PCIe 4.0 (2017)
|
— | 1.969 GB/s/lane | 31.51 GB/s x16 |
|
PCIe 5.0 (2019)
|
— | 3.938 GB/s/lane | 63.02 GB/s x16 |
|
PCIe 6.0 (2022 spec)
|
— | 7.563 GB/s/lane | 121 GB/s x16 |