Memory

The development of DDR4 began several years before DDR3 was commercialized and it took DDR4 about nine years to get from the drawing board into actual computers. Right now key industry players are already working on the standard, which will succeed DDR4. According to Samsung Electronics, prototypes of the new …

Advanced Micro Devices is currently the only company to use high-bandwidth memory it co-developed with SK Hynix and other partners. While usage of HBM is clearly a competitive advantage that AMD has over its rivals, the company is encouraging others to use the new memory type and does not intend …

The high-bandwidth memory (HBM) introduced along with AMD’s code-named “Fiji” graphics processing unit radically changes the way graphics adapters are built and also dramatically improves potential performance of future graphics processing units. But while HBM looks ingeniously simple on paper, it was extremely hard to develop and is not easy …

Nowadays datacentres use solid-state drives to store frequently used data, but continue to rely on hard disk drives to store occasionally accessed files. Intel Corp. believes that in five years’ time everything will change and SSDs will be used more broadly in datacentres. The chip giant forecasts that increasing capacities and …

In a bid to re-start talks about possible acquisition of Micron Technology, Zhao Weiguo, the chairman of China-based Tsinghua Unigroup, this week visited the U.S. The results of his negotiations are unknown, but the visit clearly signals that the government-backed technology investment company considers Micron and computer memory technologies strategically …

The first commercial solid-state drives based on the recently introduced 3D XPoint non-volatile storage-class memory are yet to hit the market, but Intel Corp. and Micron Technology Corp. are already working on the second-generation 3D XPoint technology. Moreover, Micron is also designing an all-new memory technology that will further close …

Although 3D XPoint – a new type of non-volatile memory jointly developed by Intel Corp. and Micron Technology – promises to significantly improve performance of solid-state drives over time, do not expect it to revolutionize SSD landscape overnight. According to performance estimates released by Intel, performance of the first-gen 3D …

SK Hynix, one of the leading manufacturers of NAND flash and the second largest maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), plans to spend 31 trillion won ($25.94 billion) to build two semiconductor production facilities in South Korea over the next 10 years. The expansion of production capacities will unlikely …

Samsung Electronics indicated that it plans to start volume production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) next year at the Intel Developer Forum this week. At the trade-show, the company revealed its current vision and expectations concerning HBM. Samsung foresees that eventually high-performance applications (such as GPUs) could feature up to six …

Development of DDR4 dynamic random access memory took a long time. However, adoption of the new DRAM will be rather quick. Already next year the majority of servers and personal computers will rely on DDR4. The DDR4 memory standard is currently supported by Intel Corp.’s server platforms as well as …

G.Skill this week is demonstrating its upcoming DDR4 dual-channel memory kits that can run at clock-rates higher than 4GHz at the Intel Developer Forum. The company intends to start selling such products in the coming months or weeks. G.Skill is working on Trident Z-series 8GB dual-channel DDR4 memory kits that …

The 5GHz frequency milestone for computer memory is yet to be achieved, but professional overclockers are probably not far from hitting it. This week Chi-Kui Lam, a well-known computer tweaker, managed to push a DDR4 memory module from G.Skill to whopping 4.90GHz. Chi-Kui Lam overclocked a 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws 4 …

It was a matter of time before off-the-shelf DDR4 memory managed to hit 4000MHz milestone. At present, only G.Skill offers 4GHz memory modules commercially, but other makers are gearing up to release their kits with unprecedented clock-rate. Corsair is showcasing such modules at the Intel Developer Forum. At the IDF, …

Throughout its history, Rambus has received royalties from other makers of chips for its patents. However, on Monday the company introduced its own ICs designed to improve server-class memory modules. The company will sell the products to interested parties itself. The first in a family of R+ chips, the RB26 …

A professional overclocker this week set a new clock-rate record for DDR4 memory. This time a memory module from G.Skill was overclocked to whopping 4838MHz on Gigabyte Technology’s Z170X-SOC Force mainboard. Hicookie, a professional overclocker from Taiwan who works with Gigabyte Technology, this week pushed a 4GB G.Skill memory module …

Samsung Electronics has introduced its all-new solid-state drives based on the latest TLC 3D V-NAND flash memory for enterprises. The SSDs provide unprecedented levels of performance, capacity, endurance and reliability, which will help Samsung to address new markets. The new enterprise-class SSDs are based on Samsung’s latest 48-layer 3D V-NAND …

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday said that it had started to mass produce the world’s first triple-level-cell (TLC) three dimensional vertical NAND flash memory chips with 256Gb capacity. The new 3D V-NAND memory ICs [integrated circuits] will help Samsung to make solid-state drives and other flash-based devices more affordable, which will …

Toshiba Corp. on Thursday introduced the world’s first NAND flash memory packages, which stack eight or 16 dies of NAND flash memory devices and feature 128GB or 256GB capacities. The NAND flash memory chips are designed for various applications that require high density of NAND flash storage, including mobile products …

Although Intel Corp.’s latest “Skylake” microprocessors officially support only DDR4 and DDR3L memory technologies, Asustek Computer claims that its Intel Z170-based motherboards with 240-pin DIMM slots will work with standard DDR3 memory modules with industry-standard voltages. DDR4 SDRAM memory has default voltage of 1.2V, but memory modules for overclockers with …

The new Intel Corp.’s Core i7-6700K “Skylake” processors have clearly helped professional overclockers to set new DDR4 frequency records. G.Skill on Thursday said that one of its Ripjaws 4 memory modules managed to hit nearly 4.8GHz clock-rate earlier this week. Chi-Kui Lam, a world-class overclocker from Hong Kong-based HKEPC, successfully …

Nowadays virtually all makers of mainboards offer motherboards with various exotic colours, including white or even silver. Makers of memory modules have traditionally been more conservative and typically such products come with black heat spreaders and PCBs. However, Crucial, a division of Micron, decided to release something for modders, who …

Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. have formally introduced their first vertically stacked triple-level-cell (TLC) NAND flash memory IC [integrated circuit] with 256Gb capacity. The new 3D BiCS [bit cost scalable] NAND flash memory will be mass produced next year. Toshiba’s new 256Gb (32GB) 48-layer BiCS flash device features 3-bit-per-cell TLC (triple-level cell) …

Samsung Electronics has reportedly decided to reduce production of standard dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which could cause increase of DRAM prices in the coming months. The world’s No. 1 maker of computer memory will increase production of LPDDR in a bid to supply enough memory to Apple, which is …

In a bid not to create oversupply of NAND flash memory in the market, SanDisk Corp. will continue to cautiously expand its manufacturing capacities to sustain its profit margins. While even a minimal expansion of wafer capacities will be enough for SanDisk to fulfill demand for its products, it remains …

SanDisk Corp. and Toshiba Corp. are on-track to start volume shipments of products based on their BiCS [bit cost scalable] 3D NAND flash memory in 2016. Recently the two companies began to purchase equipment needed to manufacture vertically stacked NAND chips and will initiate pilot production later in 2015. Moreover, …

G.Skill International Enterprise Co., one of the globe’s leading makers of high-end memory modules, on Wednesday introduced its all-new Trident Z and Ripjaws V families of DDR4 memory modules designed for enthusiast-class systems running the latest microprocessors from Intel Corp. The most advanced Trident Z and Ripjaws V modules are …

With DDR4 prices being driven down in preparation for the launch of a mainstream chipset supporting the memory type, now can be considered a good time to bag a high density quad-channel kit. Combining a quartet of 8GB DIMMs in a quad-channel configuration with an operating frequency of 2400MHz and …

Intel Corp. and Micron Technology on Tuesday introduced a brand new type of memory called 3DXPoint. The new memory technology combines advantages of DRAM and NAND flash and is expected to enable storage solutions with performance that is orders or magnitude higher than today. 3D XPoint will be exclusively manufactured …

Rambus this week said that it will officially introduce its all-new datacenter-class dynamic random access memory (DRAM) architecture in the coming weeks. The new DRAM is expected to shrink latencies and increase capacities of computer memory chips, something that is tremendously important for servers working with big data and in-memory …

Tsinghua Unigroup last week communicated its interest to acquire Micron Technology to the company, but did not present a formal offer. Moreover, according to sources close to the producer of DRAM and flash, the U.S. authorities would block the deal because Micron is strategically important for the country. China-based Tsinghua …