GDDR-III

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GDDR-3 is a graphics card-specific memory technology, designed by ATI Technologies.

It has much the same technological base as DDR-II, but the power and heat dispersal requirements have been reduced somewhat, allowing for higher-speed memory modules, and simplified cooling systems. Unlike the DDR-II used on graphics cards, GDDR-3 is unrelated to the upcoming JEDEC DDR-III] specification. This memory also uses internal terminators, enabling it to better handle the demands of graphics today.

Despite being designed by ATI, the first card to use the technology was nVidia's GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, where it replaced the DDR-II modules that were being previously used on it. The next card to use it was nVidia's GeForce 6800 Ultra, where it was key in maintaining reasonable power requirements compared to its predecessor, the 5950 Ultra. ATI began using the memory on their Radeon X800 cards. GDDR-3 is the official choice by Sony for the Playstation 3 console. Microsoft's Xbox 360 Will also be packaged with 512 MB of GDDR3 Memory, and is one of the pioneers of using this memory as standard system memory rather than purely video memory.