New Samsung 40nm DDR3 will allow 32GB RAM sticks
updated 10:30 am EST, Wed February 24, 2010
Samsung making 4 gigabit low power DDR3
Samsung on Wednesday said it has started manufacturing a new form of its Green DDR3 memory that will allow for very high capacity RAM. Improvements to 40 nanometer manufacturing have let the company build 4 gigabit (512MB) modules that double the maximum storage possible on a given stick. Put on to a typical RAM stick, it would allow for as much as 32GB of RAM on a server-sized RAM stick. Regular desktop memory sticks could hold 16GB, while even a small notebook SODIMM could hold 8GB.
The new process is not only more power efficient than earlier technology like DDR2 but also recent 2 gigabit Green DDR3; where an example 2Gb module would use 55W of power, the 4Gb version uses just 36W. A server using old DDR2 memory could save 10 percent of its total energy use just by switching to the new RAM.
Samsung hasn't said when it expects the new memory types to reach shipping RAM, although the pricing is likely to be very high.
