BetaNews reports that memory maker Qimonda is now sampling the first Graphics Double Data Rate 5 memory in 512 Mb modules and performance is 3x faster than current GDDR3:

This morning, Qimonda promised it could achieve a 3x performance boost over GDDR3 currently being shipped by, among other factors, doubling their bandwidth to 20 GB/sec per module. That "per module" is important, as it points to the possibility of simultaneous writes to multiple 512 Mb modules by multiple cores (Is anyone at Sony listening?).

One of Qimonda's early customers could be Intel, one of whose stealth projects is a GPU/CPU combo processor code-named Larabee. Engineers expect to see the first samples of this chip late next year, and although it would put Intel on a par with AMD in the graphics department, analysts are actually seeing it as an "nVidia killer." Larabee would reportedly require GDDR5.