Hynix offers 8GB RAM for Xeons, Opterons

Hynix this morning took a step towards expanding the RAM limits for many computers by targeting an upgrade its DDR2 line at a niche audience. The company has successfully developed an 8GB memory stick that offers registered, double-rank memory for previous-generation AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon-based workstations. Though clocked lower than today's latest memory, the new capacity is reached through controllers that can handle twice as many chips as before: this permits using inexpensive one-gigabit chips stacked together in place of two-gigabit models, according to Hynix.

The company is already producing the memory as of today and should see it put into use for relevant systems in the near future. A DDR3 equivalent for more modern platforms should be available in the second half of the year, though Hynix has not said whether it will introduce fully buffered DIMMs for modern day Xeon 5000-series systems, such as the Mac Pro and other high-end workstations.