Samsung/Hynix Vs Alpida vRam

[Z15CAM]

If you're buying a REFERENCE nVidia card you expect Samsung vRam and when buying an AMD card you expect Hynix.

Why? Because that's the way they advertize it.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

For the 780 Ti I'd except Samsung.

For anything lower I'd expect Hynix.

For R290 I wouldn't care since the IMC is the problem not the ram.

 

[blackened23]

If you're buying a REFERENCE nVidia card you expect Samsung vRam and when buying an AMD card you expect Hynix.

Why? Because that's the way they advertize it.

No. No they don't. You're still not providing substantiation of any of your claims.

Your claim:

Samsung GDDR5 overclocks better. Citation required from a sample size of higher than 20 with all factors other than VRAM being equal.

Samsung is recommended by nvidia for reference cards. Citation from an nvidia whitepaper required.

Hynix is recommend by AMD for reference cards. Citation from an AMD whitepaper required.

You're making claims with no compelling evidence. Like I said, the Samsung situation is availability based. Nothing we can do about it even if you think Samsung overclocks better. If Samsung GDDR5 does OC better, I don't know. I'm not entirely convinced that Elpida or SK Hynix are worse but I could be wrong.

 

[Silverforce11]

Theres no evidence since review sites dont generally do such shootouts between brands. The only evidence is from reading forum users results.

Its clear to me anyway, that elpida doesn't OC as well as hynix. There is also a timing issue, hynix at the same clocks/bandwidth as elpida hashes higher! For games it may not be a significant difference, but for mining its a lot.

 

[ICDP]

I have tested 3x GTX780s and only one had Samsung RAM, the other 2 had Elpida. The Samsung VRAM allowed much higher VRAM clocks which in the end made a difference of ~10%+ in game performance.

When I see people say "GTX 780 will OC 30%", I cringe knowing that the vast majority of all current GTX780s use Elpida and will be give seriously reduced OC results as a consequence.

Similarly the 3x R9 290X I have tested all had Elpida VRAM and cannot get higher than 1400 stable. Thankfully the R9 290X is not bandwidth constrained anywhere near as bad as a GTX780 with Elpida VRAM.

 

[bononos]

If you're buying a REFERENCE nVidia card you expect Samsung vRam and when buying an AMD card you expect Hynix.

Why? Because that's the way they advertize it.

No they did not 'advertize' it. You have to cite an AMD design document to back up what you said.

 

[blastingcap]

Samsung is pretty much known as the king of RAM so all else equal I'd prefer Samsung. Hynix is okay. Elpida does have a sketchier rep. That said, overclocking is a bonus, not a birthright.

 

[blackened23]

Perhaps Samsung is the best overclocking GDDR5. Like I said, I don't know.

But it doesn't change the fact that:

A) AMD / nvidia do not mandate a GDDR5 brand with their cards
B) GPU AIBs use what's available. Samsung GDDR5 is scarce with limited supply, therefore other brands are used as backup. If every AIB could, i'm sure every aftermarket card out there would be using Samsung GDDR5 if the claims are true. But basically you get the VRAM that you get because it's all based on availability.
C) AMD / nvidia do not advertise a specific GDDR5 brand.

The main point here about Samsung being limited supply. JacobF at EVGA discussed many months back with the launch of the classy 780. It isn't really in their control. If they can't buy Samsung or run into supply issues, they have to use another brand. Not because they want to, not because they want to screw the end-user. It's just harder to get Samsung GDDR5 basically.

Note: PS4 uses Samsung GDDR5:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/playstation-4-repair-guide-ps4-teardown-ifixit,25093.html

Check the full list of chips below:

• SCEI CXD90026G SoC (includes AMD "Jaguar" CPU Cores and Radeon GPU)
• Samsung K4G41325FC-HC03 512 MB GDDR5 RAM (total of 16 x 512 MB = 8 GB)
• SCEI CXD90025G Secondary/Low Power Processor for Network Tasks
• Samsung K4B2G1646E-BCK0 2 Gb DDR3 SDRAM
• Macronix MX25L25635FMI 256 Mb Serial Flash Memory

I suspect this is why Samsung GDDR5 is scarce. When Sony buys GDDR5 by hundreds of truckloads, I imagine that the PS4 would cause a shortage of Samsung GDDR5. That's my theory, anyway. So with this being the case. AIBs use Elpida and SK Hynix as alternatives. They have to. It's either that or stop GPU production for months on end. And they aren't going to do that unless they're stupid.

 

[3DVagabond]

Samsung is pretty much known as the king of RAM so all else equal I'd prefer Samsung. Hynix is okay. Elpida does have a sketchier rep. That said, overclocking is a bonus, not a birthright.

I know if I were to be asked what RAM I want in my card, between the three, I'd choose Samsung > Hynix > Elpida. honestly though, that could simply by rumor/marketing that makes me feel that way, as I've never seen an objective comparison of the three.

I think that's really the crux of this thread. Maybe just add a poll? Although I'd be willing to bet the overwhelming response would be the same as mine. This means that whether any brand is actually superior or not is irrelevant as Samsung can charge the most and Elpida the least. Interesting though that Samsung appears to be the most supply constrained and Elpida the least, even though we find Elpida in more cards. Does Elpida have more manufacturing capability?

 

[JDG1980]

I agree the original poster is being unreasonable - I've never seen either spec sheets or marketing blurbs promise a specific brand of GDDR5 for any card. That said, since the general consensus seems to be that Samsung is the best and Elpida the worst, I'm surprised that no AIB vendor has used "all Samsung RAM" as a selling point for their high-end cards. You'd think it would make sense for them to reserve the more desirable RAM for specialty labels like the MSI Lightning or EVGA Classified.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I think almost all of us would agree, #1 Samsung #2 Hynix #3 Elpida.

Nobody wants Elpida.

That said I haven't seen ram brand advertized on any video card, and if Elpida can hit advertized speed than it is what it is.

 

[blastingcap]

I think almost all of us would agree, #1 Samsung #2 Hynix #3 Elpida.

Nobody wants Elpida.

I would take Elpida if I got enough of a discount.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I would take Elpida if I got enough of a discount.

If only it worked that way...

Which is probably why the OP is miffed, though I think hitting 1500 on a R290 is lucky enough and I wouldn't complain a lick considering most won't even hit that with better vram.

 

[Draygonn]

Not all Elpida is bad. I had two windforce 780's. One had Elpida and hit 6800 and the one with Samsung hit 7200.

 

[blastingcap]

If only it worked that way...

It should...