I-RAM

[alxian]

well i guess hell hath frozen over

 

for the time of consumer affordable ram harddrives has come

 

i-RAM demo boxhttp://akiba.ascii24.com/akiba/news/2005/06/25/images/images778242.jpg[/img]

 

nifty plexi case. me wantee the whole setup

 

the actual i-RAM daughter cardhttp://akiba.ascii24.com/akiba/news/2005/06/25/images/images778243.jpg[/img]

 

i heart gigabyte.. *sniffle

 

i-RAM installedhttp://akiba.ascii24.com/akiba/news/2005/06/25/images/images778244.jpg[/img]

 

i-RAM in its native environment

 

non volatilehttp://akiba.ascii24.com/akiba/news/2005/06/25/images/images778245.jpg[/img]

 

the unit operates like a pci attached SATA hdd, but when the PC power turns (removed altogether) or the card removed from the systm this rechargeable battery pack will keep the ram fueled with power to retain your information for approx 16 hours.

 

does it come in PCI-e (x4-8)? i assume that some nut balls (points at self) would want 2 (or more) of these, in a raid to run a system drive (VIsta)(Tiger) or to install an entire game to for extreme performance.

 

 

for perspective this unit though a prototype will probably retail for ~100$ add to that ~100$ per 1024 stick of ram for a total of 4 gigs and you'll have spent some 500+ dollars. you will not get better performance though for the money.

 

consider also that gddr3 is slated to replace ddr2 soon, and sammy plans to release 2 gig sticks of ram. my word, i'm salivating..

[nemo]

Alxian - all pictures and no hyperlinks???

 

Nobody likes a tease.

[alxian]

the site is japanese. unless you read japanese the links are of little use.

 

something more comprehensible by most.

 

i-ram article @ anandtech

 

 

the article mentions several major caveats with the initial run product

 

price, capacity, no ECC memory, and bandwidth

 

the bandwitdh issue can be solved either by running the card through a pci-e bus, using a higher than 64-bit memory interface, using sata II for 3GB throughput etc.

 

for now the card even at 150$ is worth it to test the system out for hardcore gamers are prosumers looking for more speed without buying enterprise class hardware.

 

since only 1000 units are being run off on v1.0 its likely that a newer speedier version will soon be available for the public at larger, perhaps in the spring or fall of next year.

 

i-ram v2.0 could be something like: 8 gigs, 256-bit on board memory interface, sata II interconnect, sata power connector to avoid wasting a pci slot, and maybe increasing the battery life and power so the unit could be used as portable external power for such things as a laptop mp3 player or HD portable video player. "hotswappable"

 

 

for the system to be at all useful to most user we'd need to install our OS (hopefully not VIsta as that would eat up 6 gigs easily)(VIsta lite i'm sure might be on the way) as well as our most often run programs, games or productivity suites. 8 gigs is barely enough for an xp system drive. the speed of the os load unload and navigation would pay for the ram hand over fist very quickly.

 

it could be that if this technique takes off that several sata II connectors will be set aside to raid up a couple of these drive, 16-32-64 gigs configurations. respectively thats

 

8 gigs =4x2gigs[200$ each]+150$ for the i-ram 2.0 cards=<1000$(barely)

 

for a good winxp/VIsta system drive

 

16 gigs =8x2gigs+2xi-ram 2.0=~1900$

 

lastly for 32 and 64 gigs confirgurations, you're paying way too much for what you're getting but you're fast approach what most people get by on, a 32 gig ram drive and 64 gig ram drive replaces the mechnical hdd in most instances

 

32=<4000$

64=>7500$

 

128gigs =15k... err way beyond diminished returns this one.

 

the only way for this to happen really would be a drop by a factor of 10 in ram prices. if the demand rose enough for ram after people started buying in to the idea then sure it might happen. 64 gigs of ram for 750$? quite affordable. or specifically designed ram modules that are double the capacity but with reduced bandwidth and halved bits, say 2 gigs of 1GBps @ 128-bit for 20$?.

 

the ram wars would start up all over again, to the benefit of the prosumer.

 

but if your hdd is made of ram what about system ram? gddr3 is on the way and edram may take over for vram, there will always be something faster and more expensive for random access memory. though by the time you are talking about edram as system ram you're talking about some serious data throughput. what the heck would you be processing to require 2 gigs of 256-bit 256GB per second memory bandwidth? *shrugs* but i'm sure holographic displays will need some healthy throughput.

 

also your hdd would need an upgrade, 300MBps drives of 1.5TBs may be on the way sooner rather than later.