Micron's smaller NAND chips mean more, faster flash memory in the same old enclosures
By Tim Stevens 
posted June 30th 2009 7:45AM
posted June 30th 2009 7:45AM
Need a little more proof that Intel's got some fly SSDs about ready to roll? We have confirmation from Micron that it's working on new and improved 34nm chips in capacities of 8, 16, and 32Gb. These lovelies are 17 percent smaller than the previous rainbow colored flash delights, and are faster too, offering 200Mb/s transfer speeds and when combined into an SSD, able to keep up with SATA 6Gb/s transfers. This press release confirms the chips will show up in flash memory from Lexar, but we're guessing that official Intel announcement can't be far off now.
When would be the best time to buy a cheap desktop PC?
During the holidays or early next year?
I wanna wait for windows 7 sp1 but im not sure when computers are cheapest
They're cheapest when you build one yourself. Now is a good time but when school starts there are usually nice deals everywhere, and in Q4 there are going to be new product releases (and fresh products getting to shops), which might result in higher performance per $.
And don't buy SSD, you don't need it :P
I wanted to build my own but it seemed like a lot more work than i was willing to put in :P
Always buy in 6 month's time. It will always be cheaper then. Never buy now.
Oh, and i'm not convinced that it's always cheapest to build yourself. It's certainly more fun, and you'll be able to get exactly what you want, but I suspect that in the low end (£250-£350 or whatever the dollar equivalent is) it might be cheaper to go with an OEM.
I always say that its best to buy during the "Back to School" Season (aka July/August aka NOW)
What you also have to understand is that NO MATTER WHAT TIME OF THE YEAR YOU MAKE A PURCHASE, there will ALWAYS be a better deal/PC on the market within 3/4 months. its a GUARANTEE. Only thing you can do to counter this is make sure that you are satisfied with your purchase (aka don't shortcut yourself just cuz you don't have the money, etc)
@Erik, Building a computer is worth the work. The whole process of building it increases your knowledge of how one works and you know exactly what you have in a computer and if something goes wrong, how to fix it.
It's fun and exciting to build a computer.
just make sure you use the anti-static strips you get with some hardware. i know it seems dorky, but it will save you hundreds and maybe even thousands in repair and replacement costs. it takes less static than your skin can feel to permanently fry a chipset, and sometimes electrostatic damage doesn't show signs until a few months down the road, as in when you're working on something cool and haven't made any other copies of whatever in a few weeks. yeah, that's when the system decides to blue-screen on you. i may be speaking from experience.
Still better to build yourself even in the low end market i recently built one about £80 cheaper than was rock bottem in stores for a much faster machine.
I've built many a PC, but I disagree. For some high-end machines this may be the case, but once you count the cost of SOFTWARE, it's almost always more expensive to build (though you'll probably get better quality components). OEMs get better prices on hardware and software licenses than you can get at retail and they come with one single warranty, as opposed to multiple. Your best deal will be either the back-to-school specials that hit at the end of the summer or Black Friday after Thanksgiving. Or hit up bargain sites for current deals - Dell always has good specials if you watch for a few weeks.
Isn't it 200 MB/s?
No. If you're referring to the 6Gb/s figure, this is the speed when combined into an array, so multiple chips can be reading/writing at once.
No wonder they seem to be suffering performance issues with use.
So surely if these smaller chips can mean more memory, will we see a 120Gb iPod Touch that phases out the iPod Classic for good?
First we need to see some Zune HD 64-gb edition and its price...
These guys just wont give up with the zune
If your prediction is 'In the future electronic devices will have more memory', then I think that you're probably correct.
Actually I see smaller and more varied electronic devices. (aka more pointlessly small electronics, mini-iPhone anyone?)
Or actually, I see phones with actual physical memory built in instead of only 25 MB (like my Samsung SCH-U540 ;_; )
(...I wish I could delete comments...)
My precioussss..
keegan:
"it takes less static than your skin can feel to permanently fry a chipset, and sometimes electrostatic damage doesn't show signs until a few months down the road, as in when you're working on something cool and haven't made any other copies of whatever in a few weeks. yeah, that's when the system decides to blue-screen on you. i may be speaking from experience."
Uh, so any actual proof that it was the static that caused the problem? So many things can cause your PC to lock up like that, and I'm not so sure that frying a chip would then allow it to magically work for months after the fact. You "may" be speaking from experience, but then again, maybe not.
Engadget does have a "Reply" function. Ever experienced that?
Micron needs to have some success with their partnership with Intel. They are based in Boise, Idaho, where I live, and I have seen a lot of people get laid off in the last year, with a lot of skilled computer/electrical engineers out of work. Sad stuff..
William:
Posts that are already replies to other posts (like yours to mine) do not have a Reply button, so forgive me for being limited by the website and not my own incompetence to press a Reply button.