DDR3 vs DDR4 vs DDR5 Graphics Card: What is the Difference?

A Graphics Card may not exist an essential component for normal computer users. Merely for loftier-cease users, gamers and graphics designers, a graphics card is amidst the most essential components. A graphics card has many dissimilar components, RAM is among these components. There are many versions of graphics cards. You lot might have heard about DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5 graphics cards. What is the deviation amid these generations of graphics cards? This is what nosotros volition discuss in this commodity.

Different Types of Graphics Cards

What is a Graphics Card?

A graphics menu is a hardware component of a computer system used to boost its video retentiveness and display quality. A graphics carte makes a estimator system more powerful then that it can handle high-level works efficiently. The image and video quality that yous view in your calculator system depends on the type of graphics card you are using. When information technology comes to gaming and video editing tasks, the graphics card has the main role. Every game needs a graphics card. The type of graphics carte depends on the quality of graphics used in that game.

Read: How to observe out which Graphics Bill of fare you have?

What are the Components of a Graphics Carte du jour?

Before we start our discussion on the dissimilar types of graphics cards, it is essential to empathise the unlike components of a graphics bill of fare. We are listing below some graphics cards' components.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit of measurement)

A Graphics Processing Unit is the primary component of the graphics card where all the graphics calculations accept identify. Hence, we can say that GPU is the middle of the graphics menu. The GPU has hundreds to thousands of cores, whereas, CPU has but 2 to 16 cores. These small cores assistance GPU perform complex graphics calculations.

If y'all are a gamer, y'all are well-versed with the names, Nvidia and AMD. These are the two popular companies that industry graphics cards. Nvidia called the graphics card cores or processors the Cuda Cores or Shaders, whereas, AMD called them Stream Processors. Because Nvidia and AMD are the two different companies that manufacture graphics cards, the compages of their graphics cards is also not the same. Hence, we cannot say that the Cuda Cores = Stream Processors. Due to the difference in their compages, the performance of these ii graphics cards is also not the same.

Let's see the two terms related to the GPU:

GPU Clock: Information technology is the speed at which GPU runs.
Shaders Clock or Frequency: It is the speed at which the Cuda Cores and Shaders run. Information technology remains in synchronization with the GPU clock.

Retention

Memory is the component that stores all the information. GPU fetches the textures stored in a memory and sends them back to RAM after processing the information. After this step, it sends the processed data to the RAMDAC from where it is sent to the LCD screen or monitor of the user. RAMDAC is the Random Access Retentivity Digital to Analog Converter. Information technology converts the prototype into an analog signal before transmitting it to the monitor screen.

Graphics Cards utilize unlike types of RAM. The most commonly used RAM in today's graphics cards is GDDR3 and GDDR5, where Thousand ways Graphics and DDR means Double Data Rate. We will discuss DDR later in this commodity.

Heat Sink and Fan

When you run a graphics card, rut is generated. Uncontrolled temperatures can damage the graphics card. Therefore, all the graphics cards come up with a heat sink and fan. Heat sink and fan lower downward the RAM and GPU temperature and so that the graphics card can perform effectively for longer durations.

What is RAM?

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is a volatile memory which means all the stored information is erased automatically once the power supply is terminated. During information processing, the information is transferred between CPU and RAM. Hence, how fast the CPU can process the information besides depends on the data transmission rate of RAM.

What is DDR?

DDR stands for Double Information Charge per unit. DDR is used to signal the rate of data transmission betwixt RAM and CPU. Double Data Charge per unit means that the information is transferred at both high and low edges of a signal. At present you tin understand why DDR RAM is faster than non-DDR RAM. DDR1, ii, 3, etc., are the generations of DDR RAM.

Read: Integrated vs Defended Graphics carte.

DDR3 vs DDR4 vs DDR5 Graphics Carte

Now, y'all accept understood that the word DDR in a graphics bill of fare refers to the RAM embedded in it. It's time to compare the different generations of graphics cards, i.e., DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5 RAM graphics cards. Nosotros will accept here dissimilar parameters for comparison.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth refers to the corporeality of data or information moved to and from a particular destination. In simple words, RAM bandwidth represents the rate of data transfer between itself and the CPU. Bytes/2d is the unit of measurement of bandwidth. Newer generation RAM always has a college bandwidth than its previous version. That's why DDR4 RAM is faster than DDR3 RAM. But you lot likewise take to consider the capacity of the RAM while purchasing a graphics bill of fare. Heavy graphics crave more space on RAM. Therefore, if your piece of work requires running multiple heavy-duty applications, you should consider purchasing a graphics carte with more RAM.

Voltage

High voltage means high power consumption. And loftier power consumption means more heat generation. If you play ultra-high-definition games on your PC, it puts more than load on the bill of fare, which means high heat generation. This tin cause the graphics card to overheat. If you compare the specifications of the different generations of the graphics cards, you volition see that the newer generations of graphics cards have less voltage rating and high bandwidth. This means that they tin can handle multiple heavy-duty tasks with low voltage consumption. That'southward why DDR5 graphics cards are meliorate than DDR4 and lower versions.

Prefetch

You might take heard near prefetch. What is information technology? It is the corporeality of data transferred in one pass. It likewise determines how fast RAM is. For example, DDR2 RAM has a prefetch rate of 4n and both DDR3 and DDR4 RAM take the aforementioned prefetch charge per unit of 8n. It means that the DDR2 and DDR3 RAM can process 4 units and 8 units of data in ane pass respectively. The DDR5 RAM graphics carte du jour has a prefetch rate of 16n which is double the rate of DDR3 and DDR4 RAM graphics cards.

Some more types of Graphics Cards

If you are a gamer, you might take heard about GDDR graphics cards. What are they? Are they unlike from the DDR graphics cards that nosotros take discussed above in this blog? The answer is yes. Alphabetic character Chiliad in the GDDR graphics card stands for Graphics. Like DDR, GDDR is also a blazon of RAM that is used in graphics cards. The deviation betwixt a DDR graphics carte du jour and a GDDR graphics card is that the latter 1 is more than advanced and is made for loftier-terminate gaming applications.

GDDR memories have higher clock frequencies and larger bandwidth equally compared to DDR memories. GDDR RAM is besides called VRAM or Video RAM. Let's have a bird's eye view on GDDR3, GDDR4, and GDDR5 graphics cards.

GDDR3 RAM: It is faster than DDR3 RAM and is manufactured for low to mid-range of graphics cards and gaming consoles. Examples of gaming consoles that use GDDR3 RAM include Xbox 360 and PS3.
GDDR4 RAM: This RAM is not very popular. Hence, it is used in fewer graphics cards. Today, no visitor articles GDDR4 graphics cards, as the higher versions have replaced them.
GDDR5 RAM: It is the fastest RAM as of at present and is used in today's mid to high-range graphics cards. You volition find GDDR5 RAM graphics cards in the top gaming consoles like PlayStation 4. GDDR5 RAM can attain a speed of 5GHz and more. If yous compare it with GDDR3 RAM, you will find it 2.five to 3 times faster. Due to this, GDDR5 graphics cards about expensive.

Which is the best DDR Graphics Card for Gaming?

Virtually of y'all buy a graphics card to play high-definition games on your PC. Graphics menu plays an important role when information technology comes to high-end gaming applications. Above we take explained the different types of graphics cards including DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5. If you take to select betwixt DDR3 and DDR4 RAM, the two things that you consider the most are cost and performance. You will not notice the departure between these two graphics cards unless you play loftier-stop games. DDR4 is better than DDR3 graphics card in many aspects. Therefore, if cost is non your master business organisation, you should go with the DDR4 graphics card. Similarly, the DDR5 graphics card is superior to all the past generations.

Read: How to observe out Computer RAM, Graphics Card/Video memory of your PC.

If you are a high-end gamer and desire to savour the latest games in the highest resolution along with another functionalities like live streaming, you should invest in the newer generations graphics cards like DDR5. But if you are not much interested in gaming but crave a graphics card for other tasks like graphics designing, you may go with the lower versions, like DDR4 and DDR3.

Different Types of Graphics Cards