Quicklinks Testlab >>

Samsung is one of the leading manufacturers of flash memory, something it has further enforced now that it will start mass production of V-NAND, or Vertical NAND, where the memory circuits can be stacked vertically for 128 gigabit, or 16 gigabyte, per chip. 

The current technology for commercial flash based storage, NAND, has a new contender.  The latest, with seemingly good chances of succeeding, is RRAM from Crossbar that according to the maker will be able to offer up to 20 times better performance. 

Taiwanese memory maker Team group has broken the memory frequency world record with help from overclocker John Lam.  With Intel's coming Intel Z87 platform and liquid nitrogen he managed to reach a frequency of staggering 4,018 MHz. 

Adata XPG V2 are enthusiast memories of the most extreme kind and is described as the optimal choice for Haswell users by the maker Adata.  The modules get an extra layer of copper, a new eye-catching heatspreader and works at frequencies up to 2,800 MHz. 

As a relatively new actor in the memory business AMD has focused on system memory for enthusiasts, but the reception has been lukewarm.  The company has announced the new memory kit RG2133, which offers high clock frequency and RAMDisk profiling. 

Kingston is broadening its HyperX DDR3 family with a new powerful series called HyperX Predator.  Kingston holds nothing back with a memory kit up to 32 GB and clock frequencies up to 2666 MHz, bus speeds higher than some processors are even capable of. 

Samsung has announced the start of mass production of a new generation of integrated storage memory for smartphones and tablets.  Samsung eMMC Pro Class 1500 will offer record transfer speeds not just with large files but also during regular use. 

Micron has started mass production of Phase Change Memory for so called feature phones, which are compatible with LPDDR2 and JEDEC standards.  In the future the company is planning to produce this type of memories with higher capacities for smartphones and tablets. 

When we have become accustomed to DDR3 the next standard is only two years into the future.  Samsung has announced that the world's first completed DDR4 memory at 16 GB for servers, with higher frequencies and lower energy consumption than before. 

The future has been very dark for memory maker Elpida, everything from mergers with other companies to being chopped and sold in parts have been in the news as of late.  It is now official that American company Micron will acquire the company with big plans for expanding. 

Hynix is the first SSD to launch sporting 20nm grade NAND chips.  Hynix has not yet named the new SSD series, but announces that the client SSD will use synchronous ONFI NAND memory chips with capacity up to 256GB in total. 

It is not often we see new memory standards and the current GDDR5 memory is not expected to have long to go before it reaches its limits.  The solution is not far off though and its successor will be here in no less than two years. 

G.Skill had a successful week at Computex in Taiwan where the memory maker broke no less than five world records related to memory performance.  Among others, G.Skill reached the world's highest DDR3 memory frequency at staggering 3842 MHz, with AMD's Llano platform. 

After several waves of rumors it looks like a solution is starting to close in for Elpida, even if they still have a long way to go.  An agreement doesn't seem far away, and Micron is expected to be the winner in the negotiations. 

That Elpida will have to close is a fact, and the vultures are circling the corps to claim the viable parts of the company.  Besides Micron that is said to buy Elpida's plant in Hiroshima, also Toshiba and Hynix are interested. 

Elpida is close to throwing in the tower, and it looks like the old memory maker has run out of options after being denied loans and suggestions to restructure from the Japanese goverment.  Micron has now put in the winning bid to acquire Elpida. 

Published on Saturday, 25 February 2012 16:00
Written by Jacob Hugosson

The DDR3 standard is more than enough for the majority of retail applications, but the server market can never get enough bandwidth.  During ISSCC, Samsung and Hynix demonstrated their DDR4 modules, and plans mass production toward the end of the year. 

Published on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 13:30
Written by Jacob Hugosson

Not everything is going as planned for Elpida, which has failed to close deals with the partners it hoped would save them.  It is becoming more and more likely that Elpida will have to close it doors and call it final. 

Published on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 16:07
Written by Anton Karmehed

G.Skill has launched new memory modules for performance users that are tire of overgrown heatsinks.  G.Skill Ares promises high performance despite low profile heatspeaders with specified frequencies up to 2133 MHz. 

Elpida has been losing money for some time, but it finally seems like there is a solution in the near future.  It is about to reach an agreement with Micron and Nanya regarding tits ReRAM technology where a very close cooperation will be started - but Elpida remains independent. 

Maybe the memory technologies DRAM and NAND are about to be replaced?  Competing technologies are coming next year and in the form of HP Memristor, but now Elpida is also getting ready for the Memristor technology with what it calls ReRAM. 

Elpida is the last Japanese actor on the DRAM market, and while the Japanese government wants Elpida to merge with Toshiba, which among others makes NAND flash, Elpida has other plans.  Elpida, Micron and Nanya are talking about a three-way merger. 

Published on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 13:40
Written by Jacob Hugosson

Elpida is one of the big memory makers that has felt the pressure from the tough competition and dropping RAM prices.  Times are so bad at Elpida that it might go belly up soon, but it looks like it might become a part of Toshiba in the future. 

Published on Tuesday, 20 December 2011 13:05
Written by Anton Karmehed

G.Skill has rolled out its latest memory kit for the Intel X79 platform and Sandy Bridge-E, with no limitations.  G.Skill's latest RipjawsZ DDR3 kits has a 64GB density and operates at impressive 2400 MHz. 

Published on Thursday, 08 December 2011 10:40
Written by Jacob Hugosson

Samsung is the world's second largest semiconductor manufacturer after Intel.  Samsung is very diverse in its manufacturing and when it comes memory it is leading the market, and now intends to build a new fab in China for this very purpose.  The new plant will produce 20nm grade, and smaller, DRAM and NAND circuits. 

Published on Wednesday, 07 December 2011 09:42
Written by Jacob Hugosson

Intel Micron Flash Technologies has announces the next generation NAND circuit, namely a 128 Gb MLC circuit built on 20nm technology.  Besides offering record capacity and a new manufacturing technology it sports the fast ONFI 3 interface. 

It was not long ago Corsair broke the world record for DDR3 clock frequency, but now the record has been broken again and with quite a margin.  Romanian overclocker Matose has pushed his Kingston HyperX 1T memory stick to 3600 MHz! 

Most often SODIMM, memories for notebooks, follow JEDEC standards like slaves with pretty loose timings.  Corsair has expanded the Vengeance series with SODIMM models, which are not as aggressively clocked as the desktop versions, but they still stand out. 

AMD started selling its own brand memory modules in Japan, during the summer, something AMD said was a way of testing the market.  Apparently it has faired well since AMD now launches memories in three price segments, which include support for AMD OverDrive.