R600 - External Version

R600 will have a real 512 bit memory controller; unlike its predecessors, which had an internal 512 ring memory bus, the R600 will have it externally as well, said The Inquirer, but it seems that people on Anandtech's forum do not trust this info. This means that the packaging of the chip will be extremely expensive. The wider memory bus you use, the more pins you need in your chip package.

If the 512 memory ring turns to be the real thing, we are talking about 128 GB/s of memory bandwidth with GDDR4 clocked at 2000MHz. The R600 may use memory faster than 2000MHz as it will be available by Q1. If ATI keeps pushing the chip, we might get even faster GDDR4 chips at production time, said the same source.

Furthermore, the PCB of the R600 will be super complicated, as you need a lot of wires to make 512 bit memory work. Overall, it has the potential to beat Nvidia's G80, but yet again it will come at least three months after Nvidia. The G80's memory works at 384 bit as Nvidia pretty much dis-unified everything in G80, from shaders to memory controllers. Nvidia likes to make rules and probably could not get more than 384 bit wide controller in the chip, as the G80 is still a 90 nm chip.

If you're wondering why people don't trust The Inquirer, you should know that at least one engineer confessed they call the reporters sometimes just to make fun. They are giving up a little true info and then start mumbling around the subject, and then all they have to do is wait and see how all the stupidities are published.