4GB on one stick of RAM
Nathan Davis23 April 2007, 3:29 PM
Samsung announces it has created one gloriously gigantic stick of system memory thanks to a newly developed technology. It involves lasers.
 Samsung 4GB DDR2 RAM: You call that a stick? |
Samsung has released the lab hounds, as it says it can now create DRAM memory sticks of behemoth-esque proportions, all thanks to a fancy new tech.
It calls them 'stacked memory packages,' and Samsung says it can now create single DIMM sticks of DDR2 system memory, each measuring four gigabytes, with one of these new stacks of memory modules.
These "wafer-level-processed stacked packages" are each made up of four 512Mb (megabits) -- or 64MB (megabytes) -- chips worth of high density DDR2 DRAM memory. Stacked on top of each other, it says these form a single module with a total of just over 2Gb, or 256MB.
The individual 512Mb modules are joined together in this manner with the help of lasers. These form vertical micron-sized holes that are then filled with copper in order to connect their circuits.
Presumably, sixteen of these stacked memory modules -- eight on either side of the DIMM stick -- form the basis of this unholy 4GB stick of DDR2 RAM.
Not only can Samsung now create such an insanely-packed DIMM, but it also says that this is a technology that "will soon result in memory packages that are faster, smaller, and consume less power," all of which is a perfectly buzzy promise.
All of these advancements are thanks to a thing called 'TSV.' This is not the Doctor Who fan publication, Time Space Visualiser, but rather a technology called 'Through Silicon Via,' whose name also leaves us hanging for one more word.
This is all very clever, as a challenge with increasing the amount of memory on a stick has to do with how many modules can ultimately fit alongside each other. This also shortcuts the tricky process of increasing chip density.
Samsung mentions its "new stacked package design supports the rapid industry demand for high density, high performance semiconductor solutions that will support next-generation computing systems in 2010 and beyond," so presumably we'll have to wait.