Nvidia unveils custom high-bandwidth memory promising higher bandwidth and lower power use - but who will actually get to use it? | Tech Radar
Overview
News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Details
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.
Nvidia unveils custom high-bandwidth memory promising higher bandwidth and lower power use - but who will actually get to use it?
Nvidia just announced custom high-bandwidth memory that almost nobody is allowed to buy, and the one named customer has not specified which chip will use it
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
An Nvidia Blackwell GPU that supports multiple tiers of memory pictured. (Image credit: Nvidia)
Nvidia's NVHBM moves the memory controller off the accelerator die and into the HBM stack's base die, allowing it to claim a potential 30% more bandwidth, 15% lower HBM power, and 25% more compute area versus standard HBM4E
Nvidia's NVHBM performance comparisons are linked to HBM4E, which is still in the sampling stage, with a launch expected sometime in 2027
Access to the custom solution is gated behind NVLink Fusion; Amazon's Annapurna Labs is the only named partner so far and has not said which GPU uses that memory
On August 26, Nvidia extended its NVLink Fusion program with NVHBM, a custom high-bandwidth memory architecture that the company says delivers up to 30% more memory bandwidth per stack, 15% lower HBM power consumption, and up to 25% more usable area on the accelerator die.
The performance was measured against standard HBM4E samples even as the memory is expected to ship in volume some time in 2027.
Amazon's Annapurna Labs is the first named partner for Nvidia's memory advance which aims to address growing performance limitations for frontier-level AI models centering around limited bandwidth.
Nvidia's approach doesn't reinvent how memory is handled; it reimagines where it is managed. Conventional HBM approaches split this between two companies: the memory vendor supplies the DRAM stack and its base die, and the accelerator designer puts the memory controller and physical interface on its own compute die.
JEDEC standardizes the connection between the two at the cost of a very wide, comparatively slow parallel bus. NVHBM dissolves the seam altogether by moving Nvidia's memory controller into the base die of the 3D stack, replacing the standard bus with a narrower, serialized die-to-die link that Nvidia designs and memory makers can build.
Qualcomm's new High Bandwidth Compute looks to tackle costs of High Bandwidth Memory
SK Hynix and San Disk reveal first specs for High Bandwidth Flash
AMD abandons HBM for inferior LPDDR5x as AI monster devours precious high-bandwidth memory
Nvidia's technical blog puts the resulting reduction in interface and support area at up to 67% against the JEDEC HBM4E standard, even as it improves key power consumption, memory bandwidth, and usable area.
The underlying tech is not completely new, however: Marvell announced the same basic idea in December 2024, naming Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix as collaborators while claiming up to 25% more compute area, 33% greater memory capacity, and a 70% reduction in memory interface power, figures that come close to what Nvidia is currently projecting. Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah put it plainly: "The technology is not new. The distribution is."
Even as HBM4E remains elusive, as it is not in mass production just yet, with Samsung shipping the first HBM4E samples in late May 2026 and SK hynix pulling its own sampling forward to around June, NVHBM is even more elusive. It is a building block gated behind NVLink Fusion, Nvidia's program for connecting third-party accelerators to its rack-scale platform, and access runs through that program's partner list.
Amazon's Annapurna Labs is the first named participant, with Nvidia's blog saying Annapurna will support NVLink Fusion with Trainium 4 without explicitly mentioning NVHBM.
For now, NVHBM might be the future, but it may arrive well after HBM4E is already being deployed en masse. Nvidia's own technical blog describes NVHBM as built on the same technology the company will use for future GPUs, without specifying the first generation that would support it natively.
Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.
Having built hundreds of gaming PCs and being an avid gamer in his spare time, Rahim tends to have stronger opinions about hardware than most. This is particularly on display when he gets his way with powerful, but minimalistic RGB builds even as Small Form Factor (SFF) PCs come a close second.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Google patches multiple browser bugs including one that was under active exploitation — so update now
I tried these stylish, futuristic-looking open earbuds, and although they boast sound by Bose, they're not as harsh on your wallet — here's everything you need to know
i Phone Ultra will be the star of Apple's 'Surprise and Shine' event, but all eyes will be on John Ternus
Kingston's speedy NV3 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD is down to $157 at Newegg for Labor Day
Open AI warns about how good Astra model is at cracking cybersecurity, releases it anyway because it took 'years of research and big bets'
Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.
© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.
Key Takeaways
- News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
- Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
- Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
- Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
- Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards
