Video random-access memory: Difference between revisions

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restoring lead, no significant improvement. avoid long parenthetical, many GPUs are integrated with CPU and share RAM, this is lower performance but very popular. caps.
Replaced dead reference on HBM memory with a working source that explains HBM technology and lists GPUs supporting it.
 
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[[File:GDDR5X 1080ti.jpg|thumb|[[GDDR SDRAM|GDDR5X SDRAM]] on an NVIDIA GeForce [[GTX 1080 Ti]] graphics card]]
 
'''Video random-access memory''' ('''VRAM''') is dedicated [[computer memory]] used to store the [[pixel]]s and other graphics data as a [[framebuffer]] to be rendered on a computer monitor.<ref>{{cite book|title=Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice|last1=Foley|first1=James D. |last2=van Dam|first2=Andries|last3=Feiner|first3=Steven K.|last4=Hughes|first4=John F.|publisher=[[Addison-Wesley]]|year=1997|isbn=0-201-84840-6|page=859|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4ngT05gmAQC&dq=vram&pg=PA892}}</ref> This isIt often uses a different technology than other computer memory, toin facilitateorder beingto be read rapidlyquickly tofor drawdisplay theon a imagescreen.
 
==Relation to GPUs==
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Many modern GPUs rely on VRAM. In contrast, a GPU that does ''not'' use VRAM, and relies instead on system RAM, is said to have a [[unified memory architecture]], or [[shared graphics memory]].
 
System RAM and VRAM have been segregated due to the bandwidth requirements of GPUs,<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is VRAM: The Memory Power Behind Real-time Ray-Tracing|url=https://digitaladvisor.com/graphics-cards/what-is-vram/|access-date=2022-05-16|archive-date=2022-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522170614/https://digitaladvisor.com/graphics-cards/what-is-vram/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://itigic.com/relationship-between-ram-and-vram-bandwidth-and-their-latency/|title=Relationship Between RAM and VRAM Bandwidth and Their Latency|date=17 May 2021 }}</ref> and to achieve lower latency, since VRAM is physically closer to the GPU die.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.makeuseof.com/ram-vs-vram-differences/|title=RAM vs. VRAM: What's the Difference?|website=makeuseof.com|date=16 July 2021 }}</ref>
 
Modern VRAM is typically found in a [[Ball grid array|BGA package]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Encapsulated in CPUs, GPUs, RAM and Flash: Types and Uses|date=23 March 2021 |url=https://itigic.com/encapsulated-in-cpus-gpus-ram-and-flash-types-and-uses/}}</ref> soldered onto a graphics card.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://graphicscardhub.com/graphics-card-component-connectors/|title=Graphics Card Components & Connectors Explained|date=29 March 2017 }}</ref> The VRAM is cooled along with the GPU by the GPU heatsink.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://graphicscardhub.com/graphics-card-cooling-solutions/|title=Different Types of Graphics Card Cooling Solutions for GPU, VRAM & VRM|date=17 January 2017 }}</ref>
 
==Technologies==
* [[Dual-ported video RAM]], used in the 1990s and at the time often called "VRAM".
* [[SGRAM]]
* [[GDDR SDRAM]]
* [[High Bandwidth Memory]] (HBM)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wwwgpus.techdimaxiomgaming.comnet/vramvideo-vs-rammemory/HBM|title=VRAMHBM vsGraphics RAMCards {{!}}- Differences7 &GPUs Applicationswith HBM Memory|website=TechDimAxiom Gaming|date=16 August 2025 }}</ref>
 
==See also==