Memory floor, and what it has to name
A memory floor is a claim that a card of a given size will finish a described job. It is the figure a reader with one machine actually needs, and it is only testable when the output and the supported formats are named alongside it. As of 2026-09-22.
| Property of the claim | What it implies |
|---|---|
| It is testable | Somebody will test it |
| It names an output | The vendor chose a configuration to stand behind |
| It names card generations | Older hardware was considered and excluded |
| It is low | The release was engineered for reach |
Inclusion rule. Properties of a published floor. A property about the publisher rather than the model is included, because a floor is partly a statement of intent. Order. From the property about testing to the property about design.
1Publishing a floor invites correction
A stated minimum can be tried by anyone with that card, and reports come back. A vendor that publishes one has accepted that, which is why floors are rarer than peaks in this register.
It also means a floor is usually conservative. The vendor picked a configuration it was confident about rather than the most aggressive one it could find.
2Low floors are engineering, not luck
The lowest figure in this register belongs to a release built around packing long frame sequences, and it is stated for a full minute of output. The number is a consequence of the design rather than of the parameter count.
Reading it as a general rule for models of that size fails immediately: another release of nearly identical size publishes no figure at all.
3Which rows here offer one
Four families state a minimum. One of them attaches it to a full minute of output and names the card generations and the numeric formats, which makes it the most completely specified hardware statement in the register.
A floor is also the rarer form because it invites correction. A vendor publishing one has accepted that anyone with that card will test it, which is why the figures that exist tend to be conservative.
A reading note, not an entry: no vendor value appears on this page. Where the register records this term for a particular release, it is on the hardware column and on that family's own page. Nearby terms: Offloading, Numeric precision.