RAM News - Page 27

New DDR4 memory might not be available for a while yet, but the first samples of DDR4 memory have made it to the TweakTown Enterprise test lab today, fresh from the fabrication labs.

"Crucial DDR4 Memory Technology Process data faster. Reduce power expenses. Extend battery life. Double a system's memory capacity as module densities mature. Crucial DDR4 memory technology is up to twice as fast and delivers 50% more bandwidth and 40% more energy efficiency than DDR3 technology when it was introduced. Designed to enable the next generation of enterprise and consumer products, Crucial DDR4 memory works with next generation processors and makes everything you do on a computer or server faster and more efficient than ever before."

" Servers are constrained by memory bandwidth, capacity, and ever-increasing power costs. With the increased performance and efficiency of Crucial DDR4 server memory, boost bandwidth by up to 50%, and reduce power consumption and the need for cooling. Enable up to twice the installed memory capacity and process data faster."

This morning Crucial Memory announced that it has begun shipping samples of its new DDR4 modules to its partners through its new Technology Enablement Program. This program is aimed at channel partners who are actively developing and evaluating DDR4 platforms. Crucial says that this mornings announcement is the result of Micron's recent ramp-up in DDR4 module production.

"Memory is one of the biggest limitations when it comes to enterprise server environments. Many memory-dependent server applications are crucial to the day-to-day operations of a business, but they require higher densities of memory and increased performance," said Michael Moreland, worldwide product marketing manager, Crucial. "Crucial DDR4 memory enables servers to perform faster and run more efficiently than ever before, reducing power and cooling expenses along the way - essential for meeting the ever-increasing workload demands of data centers."

Designed to enable next generation enterprise environments, Crucial DDR4 server memory delivers data rates that start at 2133 MT/s (up to twice as fast as DDR3 when it was introduced) and is expected to get even faster as the technology matures. What's more, when used with Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family-based systems, Crucial DDR4 server memory doubles memory bandwidth from 8.5 GB/s to 17 GB/s. Additionally, Crucial DDR4 memory uses up to 20 percent less voltage than DDR3 technology, operating at 1.2V compared to 1.5V for standard DDR3 memory, and delivers up to a 40 percent reduction in power usage.

Micron Technology may hike its prices of DRAM chips by May as their inventory levels are running low and the supply of DRAM from other manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix is also insufficient.

Few memory device makers have also reported that Micron has already raised its quotes to reflect the short supplies of DRAM chips. What also makes it worse that other DRAM manufacturing leaders are having issues of their own.

Samsung is affected by low production output of DRAM chips because of its migration towards 25nm process. Because of this, the South Korean based company is having tough times to meet with PC OEM contract orders. Samsung said that it is expecting a more balanced DRAM supply and demand by 2014, along with strong consumer and enterprise SSD demand to accelerate the process.

DDR4 RAM is still in its infancy and at the moment it's use is relegated to the high-end enterprise server world, but that has not stopped silicon manufacturer, SK Hynix, from pushing the new standard to the next level. Today the company unveiled its latest DDR4 module that boast an impressive 128GB of RAM on a single DIMM sized stick.

"The development of the world's first 128GB DDR4 module has its significance in opening ultrahigh density server market" said Sung Joo Hong, the head of DRAM development at SK Hynix in s statement.. "The company will further strengthen its competitiveness in premium DRAM sphere with the development of high density, ultrahigh speed and low power consuming products."

The 128GB stick of DDR4 is based on Through Silicon Via technology and utilizes SK Hynix's 20nm 8GB chips packed in a single DIMM module as tightly as possible. SK Hynix says that the stick of DDR4 is capable of speeds up to 2133Mbp/s, with speeds reaching 17GB/s if passed through a 64-bit wide bus. The sticks operate on just 1.2V which is a significant energy savings over the common 1.5V DDR3 modules.

Just moments ago Samsung announced the companies has increased DDR4 production. This comes on the just before of Intel's E5-2600 V3 series announcement that we expect soon.

Upon launch, DDR4 will increase DRAM performance while at the same time lower power consumption.

Here we see the evolution of DRAM over time with both throughput and power.

Today Micron Storage announced that it is beginning to ramp up production of DDR4 memory modules in preparation of Intel's pending launch of the new Xeon E5-2600 V3 line of processors. Micron says that these DDR4 modules will offer a performance increase of up to 35-percent over previously utilized DDR3 RAM.

"Our JEDEC-compliant portfolio showcases the performance and power benefits that DDR4 products can provide for our customers," said Robert Feurle, Micron's vice president of marketing and program management. "As a result of Micron's close engagement with our key enabling partners, we are well positioned to bring this exciting new technology to market."

"We have been working with Micron since the early days of DDR4 memory definition and through DDR4 product launch," said Geof Findley, Intel DCG Memory Ecosystem Director. "We are very excited that our mutual customers will be able to reap the benefits of this new memory technology to improve performance and reduce power as part of future Intel(R) Xeon(TM) processor E5-2600 v3 product family based systems with production availability of these new processors in 2H'14."

If you spend a lot of time on your computer with a lot of tabs or programs open that consume memory, you know you can never have enough RAM. If you use a new round Mac Pro that debuted last year and are in need of a RAM update, a new product has launched you will want to check out.

A company called Transcend has rolled out some new RAM upgrades for the 2013 Mac Pro that can bring the total amount of memory in the machine to 128GB. RAM modules are available in 16GB and 32GB capacity. Apple puts four upgradable RAM slots inside the machine.

Transcend says that while the Mac Pro is advertised to support only 64GB of RAM, it has tested the machine to work with up to 128GB. The 16GB modules are DDR3-1866 units with the 32GB modules being DDR3-1333. Both RAM configurations are RDIMMS and are guaranteed 100% to work with the Mac Pro. Pricing is unannounced at this time.

Samsung Electronics made an announcement today that it has started the mass production of 20 nanometer based DDR3 memory modules. The company is using the immersion ArF lithography to roll out 20nm based 4Gb for its most advance DDR3 memory.

Young-Hyun Jun, the executive VP of memory sales and marketing for Samsung Electronics said,"Samsung's new energy-efficient 20-nanometer DDR3 DRAM will rapidly expand its market base throughout the IT industry including the PC and mobile markets, quickly moving to mainstream status. Samsung will continue to deliver next-generation DRAM and green memory solutions ahead of the competition, while contributing to the growth of the global IT market in close cooperation with our major customers."

Samsung said that it refined its design and manufacturing by using modified double patterning and atomic layer deposition. Because of this, Samsung was able to improve the scaling of its NAND flash memory. According to the manufacturing giant, this technology marks a new milestone as it allows 20nm DRR3 memory production using these equipments. It also helped them to establish a core technology required for next generation 10nm DRAM production.

A federal court in California has concluded a case against 12 DRAM manufacturers as they accused of price fixing between 1998 and 2002. The court calculated that the manufacturers will have to do a settlement that totals up to $310 million.

The case was filed by a group of US attorney generals against DRAM manufacturers including Samsung, NEC, Infineon, Hynix, Micron and Toshiba in 2007. The DRAM makers have any wrongdoing of any price fixing during those years, but have agreed to make a settlement. The attorney generals have agreed to $310 million settlement package where the money will be distributed to the public.

Earlier, Samsung had to cough out $300 million in 2005 as a settlement with US department of Justice.

Team Group, Inc. collaborated with HKEPC Laboratory for the 23rd time to make a Super Pi 1M record using TeamGroup ProjectX memory kits.

The team was able to set a new world record of 5.078 seconds for Super PI 1M scores, therefore beating the previous record of 5.094 seconds by Russia's Smoke Core. What made this very impressive is that the previous record was held for 7 months, therefore one can imagine the time, effort, co-ordination and patience it would require to get everything right to break an already impressive world record.

The overclockers used Xtreem Series' DDR3-2000 2x 2GB CL8 memory kits that used Elpida ICs. It was paired with an i7- 3770K clocked at 7.13 GHz and ASROCK Z77 OC Formula motherboard. The ProjectX memory kit was clocked with 11-7-14 timings 1T at 1,359 MHz. Both components were cooled down by LN2.