Hynix intros 16GB, full-speed registered DDR3 memory

Hynix Semiconductor on Tuesday announced that it will use MetaRAM’s new DDR3 technology in its next generation of Registered Dual Inline Memory Modules (R-DIMMs). The company debuted two new memory chips, including what it claims is the world's first 16GB 2-rank DIMM in addition to an 8GB 2-rank DIMM, at the Intel Developer Forum currently being held in San Francisco. Hynix claims the benefits of 2-rank DIMM technology include tripling DDR3 memory capacity in servers and workstations without having a negative affect on performance.

Intel is displaying the Hynix 16GB 2-rank DIMM with MetaRAM's DDR3 chipset at the IDF, along with a 160GB server using the DDR3 R-DIMMs and Meta SDRAM technology. MetaRAM claims its DDR3 memory chips allow more memory capacity other DDR3 chips without slowing down the operating frequency of the DDR3 memory channel. The company has demonstrated a 24GB DDR3 SDRAM chip that operates at 1,066 million transfers per second (MT/s) in a channel. With three 16GB DIMMs, the company says 48GB per channel at the 1,066MT/s is possible, compared to the maximum of 16GB per channel at the same speed from competitors.

The technology is expected to make its way into future generations of Intel Xeon-based workstations and servers, including Mac Pros which use the Xeon chips.