RAM - Page 24

Now that mini-PCs from companies such as ASROCK, ASUS and Zotac are catching up, SO-DIMM overclocking is something that would be interesting to see. G.SKILL did that using ASROCK M8 Barebone system.

G.SKILL managed to do just that, as they were able to overclock its ripjaws SO-DIMM 1.35V C11 2133 MHz to 2400 MHz 12-14-14-25 @ 1.35v.

ASROCK M8 is a barebone PC made for 4th Gen Intel series processors and uses Intel Z87 chipset. The system allows installation a single dual-slot video card with maximum dimension support of up to 290mm x 137mm x 43.5mm with up to TDP support of 200w. The unit also has 802.11 ac+ Bluetooth v4.0 support. M8 barebone system only includes a chassis, a 450w power supply, mini-ITX motherboard, fans and an optical disk drive. The rest of the components such as processors, memory kits and storage drive needs to purchased separately.

Samsung Electronics has started increasing its 25nm DRAM production with the hopes that it can grab a good share of the DRAM market while they still can. The South Korean based chipmaker is taking advantage of the situation courtesy of an accident that broke out at SK Hynix's DRAM production fab in China in September 2013.

Because of the fire that broke out in its plant, one third of the DRAM's production halted. Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology are the only DRAM chipmakers who are close enough to compensate for the production scarcity, including the production of chips for Apple Technology and GDDR5 for video cards.

Samsung Electronics has an advantage since they already have a 25nm DRAM production fab. The majority of DRAM production from Micron is based on 30nm process, and its technology transition to 20nm production won't be completed until the end of 2014. It was only recently when Micron completed its transition to manufacture 25nm chips via its plant in Hiroshima. This fab was formerly owned by Elpida Memory and produced DRAM chips for mobiles.

CES 2014 - It's always fun to find a few diamonds in the rough at CES, and luckily this year held a few as usual. Kingston was demonstrating a whopping 384 GB's of its new DDR4 running in a blacked-out server. For those in the know, there currently isn't a publicly released CPU/chipset combination that supports DDR4 memory.

In order to recieve clearance for this demo, Kingston had to black out key areas of the chassis, which means essentially everything other than the heat sinks and DDR4 sticks. We speculate this is Grantley-EP and Wellsburg PCH. If so, the server supports Thunderbolt and features DDR4 speeds of 2400 and 3200MHz. However, these specs are pure conjecture.

Of course we tried to 'play the angles' to get a view underneath at the new unnannounced chipset. Unfortunately, Kingston delivered on their promise to Intel by making a more detailed analysis of the chipset impossible through use of the large black covers underneath the plexiglass cover.

Mobile memory technology has taken a major leap forward with today's announcement of 8-gigabit low-profile double-data-rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM chips from Samsung. The new DRAM chips offer the ability to pack 1GB on a single die, which will most likely lead to many upcoming next-gen smartphones featuring 4GB of RAM.

Samsung says that the new LPDDR4 silicon offers improved efficiency which results in up to 40-percent less power consumption than previously seen. This is possible because the chips are designed to run at just 1.1 volts each. The chips are designed on a 20nm process, which shrinks the package small enough to fit 1GB onto a single chip. With Qualcomm releasing a 64-bit mobile processor next year, and Apple's 64-bit A7 already on the market we could see a major jump in the amount of RAM smartphones house in 2014 and 2015.

"This next-generation LPDDR4 DRAM will contribute significantly to faster growth of the global mobile DRAM market, which will soon comprise the largest share of the entire DRAM market," said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "We will continue introducing the most advanced mobile DRAM one step ahead of the rest of the industry so that global OEMs can launch innovative mobile devices with exceptional user convenience in the timeliest manner."

We aren't quite at the DDR4 stages yet, but as we do start slotting in DDR4 onto our consumer boards, we could begin to see over the horizon, and spot a new memory standard: MRAM.

This is because the US-Japan alliance is looking for a replacement of the old DRAM technology, with over 20 companies in Japan and US joining forces to develop mass-production techniques for a next-generation chip technology. This new tech is called magnetoresistive random access memory, or MRAM. Those involved include Tokyo Electron, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Renesas Electronics, Hitachi, and US memory giant Micron Technology.

MRAM will see data stored in magnetic storage elements instead of electric charges, or current flows. MRAM will also reportedly have just one-third the power consumption of DRAM, with 10 times the capacity, and wait for it - 10 times the writing speed. This will make the technology perfect for the next, next-generation of smartphones and tablets, too.

If Crucial Memory's promotional page is anything to go by, we could expect DDR4 RAM to be released next month. But, this will require new motherboards, and even if you did that, is there a benefit?

Yes, and it's quite the improvement, and a bigger improvement than we had moving from DDR to DDR2, and even DDR2 to DDR3. DDR4 memory will use 20% less power, deliver speeds of up to 100% faster, and is 100% denser than its predecessor. Most DDR3 is around 1066MHz, but DDR4 kicks things off from 2133MHz, which is a huge increase.

Another benefit is going to be the amount of RAM per stick, with DDR3 seeing 1Gb when it was introduced, and while we have more per stick now, DDR4 will have a sweet 4Gb density. This means we should see much higher GB kits of DDR4, where we should hopefully see kits being at a minimum of 8GB, although I'd like to see 16GB. We should finally see a world of 16GB per module, which will be great for 64GB kits when Haswell-E arrives.

Today Transcend unveiled a new line of memory modules aimed at the high-end enterprise server market. The new DDR3-1866 modules come in 4GB capacities and are featured in both Registered DIMM and Unbuffered ECC DIMM profiles. Transcend says the new DRAM modules are ideal for servers running Intel's Xeon E5-2600 v2 processors for optimal performance.

The company says that each module is constructed with the highest quality DDR3-1866 DRAM chips and have a latency of 13-13-13 with an operating voltage of 1.5V. The modules are said to fully comply with JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standards, which ensure the best performance, compatibility, and stability. Each of the new 4GB DDR3-1866 modules are backed by a lifetime warranty. SKUs are listed below.

Earlier this week I reported on new DDR4 memory from G.Skill, and in that report I included some photos and information on a kit of DDR3 that G.Skill overclocked to an outstanding 3000MHz. Today G.Skill has sent over a video showing further proof of the stability of their DDR3 DIMMs running at 3000MHz.

The video is not very long, but you can clearly see that the DIMMs are running at the reported speed, and that things appear to be stable. This is very exciting and with this new revelation, I bet we will see some new world records coming out of the G.Skill camp very soon!

Today, Crucial announced the launch of its all-new 64GB DDR3L Load-Reduced DIMMs for use in enterprise servers. Crucial says that the new LRDIMMs enable more DIMMs per channel which is able to double the memory capacity per server, and saves companies money by not having to purchase additional machines.

These new 64GB Crucial DDR3L Load-Reduced DIMMs offer up to a 35-percent increase in memory bandwidth when compared to standard DIMMs, and are much more power efficient as they operate on 1.35V over the 1.5V standard found in other DIMMs. The company says that these new memory modules are also compatible with OEM servers and warranties which allows users to upgrade their existing infrastructures without having to shell out the cost for new systems.

"For memory-intensive server applications such as cloud computing, virtualization, and in-memory databases, optimizing the capabilities of new or existing hardware is by far a more cost-effective solution than purchasing additional servers," said Michael Moreland, worldwide DRAM product marketing manager, Crucial. "The new 64GB Crucial LRDIMMs allow servers to reach the maximum amount of installed memory possible, which can enable dramatic performance gains in memory bandwidth and overall server productivity, all while reducing power costs relative to adding additional servers."

This morning extreme performance memory manufacturer G.Skill announced the addition of 15 new DDR3 quad-channel memory kits to its award-winning RipjawsZ lineup of high-performance memory modules. The new kits are designed and optimized for Intel's new Core i7 LGA-2011 and X79 platform otherwise known as Ivy Bridge E.

G,.Skill has significantly raised the clock speeds of the new Ivey E friendly RipjawsZ quad-channel DDR3 kits to unprecedented levels. The company says that the new 16GB (4x4GB) kit will run at 2933MHz while the 64GB (8x8GB) kit speeds along at 2666MHz. In the image below you can see the 2666MHz 64GB kit validated using an Intel i7-4960X CPU on an ASUS X79-Deluxe motherboard.

Additionally G.Skill has taken advantage of the new Ivey Bridge E processors and has lab tested DDR3 memory speeds up to 3000MHz that proved to be stable on air cooling. The image below shows the company's 3000MHz 16GB proof of concept using an Intel i7-4960X and an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.

Today Samsung announced that it has began mass-producing what it says is the most advanced DDR4 memory being made for enterprise servers in next-generation data centers. Designed run a 20nm-class process the modules facilitate demand for 16Gb and 32GB capacities.

"The adoption of ultra-high-speed DDR4 in next-generation server systems this year will initiate a push toward advanced premium memory across the enterprise," said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "After providing cutting-edge performance with our timely supply of 16GB DDR3 earlier this year, we are continuing to extend the premium server market in 2013 and will now focus on higher density and added performance with 32GB DDR4, and contribute to even greater

growth of the green IT market in 2014."

Today, Apacer introduced us to some new RAM that they say will "once again bring overclocking techniques to a new level." The new ARES DDR3-3000 series is the same APACER RAM that broke records at Computex Taipei 2013 with a pair of modules reaching 3225MHz. The series includes 2800MHz, 2933MHz, and 3000MHz modules that are available in two different capacity packages. A 2x4GB and a 2x8GB kit are available to bring extreme overclocking to extreme players.

Apacer says that every module of ARES RAM has been thoroughly checked to ensure that they conform to the highest standards. The ARES series features an 8-layer PCB that was specifically designed for overclocking efficiency and to provide better noise and interference reduction which can otherwise prevent world class overclocks from happening.

Computex Taipei 2013 - ADATA had some cool new memory modules on show but none where as cool as the new Chameleon series from the company. While only being shown off at lower 1600MHz DDR, the new Chameleon series has a new heatsink design like nothing we've really seen before.

Depending on the heat being generated by the modules we can see that the heatsink design color changes; much like a chameleon, hence the name. On the left you can see what the kit looks like normally while when we're up and running a little warmer you can see the difference on the right hand side. This is something very cool and we're looking forward to taking a closer look at the kit.

Along with the new Chameleon series kit of RAM we've got the new V2 XPG modules on the right hand side and across the bottom in a number of colors with speeds coming in as high as 2933MHz DDR at 12-14-14-36.

Computex Taipei 2013 - One of our meetings at Computex today was with Crucial and Micron who not only had some of its new RAM to show off to us, but also we had a good chance to sit down and talk about its current state of DDR4 memory, among some other interesting topics.

While pictures of Crucial's DDR4 memory is nothing new, during our meeting we were updated on the current state of affairs for Crucial and Micron memory. Crucial is already producing DDR4 memory in limited quantity at the moment with what sounded like no issues in the yield department, even though that wasn't specifically disclosed. They are producing DDR4 memory at this moment for their own internal validation tests and to hand out to companies like Intel who are using its memory for validation of upcoming platforms that will support DDR4 memory next year on future chipsets.

As for the DDR4 memory itself, while it's not a hard and dry fact at this stage of the game, Crucial sees its DDR4 memory coming in at clock ranges anywhere from 2400MHz DDR all the way up to 3200MHz, at launch. Crucial pointed out that they are quite pleased with the extra performance users will get from jumping from current DDR3 based systems to DDR4 systems, the jump from 1600MHz DDR to 2400MHz is rather positive.

Computex Taipei 2013 - If you've caught the theme, there are a lot of new products debuting at Computex. Corsair isn't being left out and has introduced a new line of Vengeance Pro DDR3 RAM for extreme overclockers and pro users around the world.

The new RAM ranges in speed and capacity from 1600MHz to 2933MHz and from 8GB (2x4GB) to 64GB (8x8GB). The Vengeance Pro RAM supports Intel's XMP 1.3 and comes in a range of colors, seen above and below.

According to Corsair, the RAM ICs are "specifically selected for speed and overclocking headroom." They come with a limited lifetime warranty. Pricing and availability have not been divulged as of yet.

Corsair have just unveiled their new Vengeance Extreme RAM, which is the world's fastest rated PC memory kits. Vengeance Extreme comes in at a DIMM-busting 3000MHz, in dual-channel kits of 8GB. The new Vengeance Extreme comes with low profile "racing red" heat spreaders, too.

The 3000MHz RAM is air-cooled with latency pegged at 12-14-14-36 at 1.65V. If you want to overclock this already super-fast RAM, included with the kit is a Kingpin Cooling memory cooler, which can be used for some LN2 action to push the ram far beyond its already quick 3000MHz. In order to even use this new kit of RAM from Corsair, you'll need a third-generation Core processor from Intel, with an Integrated Memory Controller capable of pushing 3000MHz.

Corsair's Vengeance Extreme 3000MHz 8GB kits are priced at $749.99 and will be available exclusively from Corsair.com later this month.

CES 2013 - Corsair have announced the release of the Dominator Platinum Light Bar Upgrade Kits, which allow users to pimp their ride, or should I say RAM, with lighting for their Dominator Platinum DDR3 RAM.

Each of the Dominator Platinum Light Bar Upgrade Kits will include two light bars which will replace the existing bars that come stock on the memory, sporting translucent colored inserts which come in Cerulean Blue and Arctic White which will allow the user to customize the lighting color. The light bars are designed in a way that the new top openings radiate more light upwards.

The Upgrade Kits come with an installation tool which makes installing the kits an easy affair, taking just minutes to get your RAM looking beautiful. Corsair will be selling the Dominator Platinum Light Bar Upgrade Kits in February through selected resellers and distributors with a suggested retail price of $29.99 in the US.

Samsung have reportedly starting the mass production of what they consider the first 2GB LPDDR3 (low profile DDR) chip for mobile applications, just 10 months after the South Korean company started production on DDR2 memory.

Samsung have hit a milestone that sees the first time 2GB LPDDR3 density chips are made available as an all-in-one package, since they sport four LPDDR3 chips stacked together. Samsung says that LPDDR3 will be a requirement moving forward, as mobile devices ship with faster and faster processors, higher resolution displays, and 3D graphics. Samsung have also pointed toward the fact that LPDDR3 features a transfer rate of up to 1600Mbps per pin, which gives us transmission rates of up to 12.8GB/s at the package level - compared to LPDDR2 that maxed out at 1066Mbps, makes LPDDR3 parts around 50% faster.

LPDDR3 will usher in the ability of allowing real-time viewing of high-quality video, without having to download the content first. Samsung have also teased that the mass production of 128GB eMMC for mobile devices, which will see the new products being much faster than their predecessors, while offering the increased storage space. Samsung's 128GB eMMC products will sport NAND with a toggle DDR 2.0 interface, built on a 20nm manufacturing process.

Kingston, one of the world's largest memory manufacturers, produced a HyperX Red line as a limited edition product earlier this year. The HyperX Red line was designed to be a budget part, an offering to compete against "major on 3rd" products, which have dominated the budget market.

"Major on 3rd" means that a company has taken a major brand memory, such as Toshiba, and added it to a 3rd party vendor's PCB. This is where most of your budget memory comes from. Now, Kingston wants to take some of this market. That is why they have permanently added the HyperX Red product to their line up.

The HyperX Red brand is designed for system builders who want to use major brand memory or for enthusiasts who don't want to spend a lot of money on their RAM and still want to get some performance.

Computer sales have been slow, especially considering we are in the third quarter, a time when sales are usually peaking due to back to school shopping and other factors. This slow down in sales has caused a drop in demand for DRAM and quite the stock pile of RAM back at the factories. Most have pulled in production, but they still have a 3 month surplus.

Hopefully, Windows 8 PCs and the release of Windows 8 will drive PC sales back up to where they should be. This should help clear out the back up as sales pick up. Some sources have reported OEM PC factories have a surplus of 6 months. This huge pile up is bad for the industry but good for consumers looking to upgrade their RAM.

Some sources are saying that RAM prices could be 10-15 percent lower in October than they are today--good news if you need to expand your RAM offerings or are looking to give RAM as a gift. Elpida and Rexchip Electronics have cut production by 25-30 percent in order to stop prices from dipping even further.