MetaRAM
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16GB Hynix DDR3 RAM modules demonstrated at IDF
Remember that MetaRAM technology we figured was nothing more than a sophisticated joke back in February? Intel, one of the noteworthy backers, has proven that said tech actually is one rung above snake-oil at its own Developers Conference in San Francisco. Hynix-made DDR3 DIMMs packing 16GB of memory were reportedly created via the MetaRAM method (and subsequently shown off), and just in case you're not wowed by such wizardry, the demo system included no fewer than ten of these modules. Just in case that sort of flew over your head, the machine they were in possessed 160GB of RAM. Unfortunately, we've a feeling these are quite aways out from hitting the consumer market.
MetaRAM aims to bump RAM capacity by 4x overnight
We're not sure what whacky voodoo snakeoil these MetaRAM people are peddling, but the company's got some high profile behind it (like Intel, for one), is being led by former AMD CTO Fred Weber, has appears to have some potentially revolutionary RAM quadrupling technology. Claiming to have leapfrogged current RAM technology by 2-4 years, MetaRAM uses a specialized "MetaSDRAM" chipset that effectively bonds and addresses four cheap 1Gb DRAM chips as one, tricking any machine's memory controller into using it as a 4x capacity DIMM. Since a 1Gb chip is apparently far less expensive than a 2Gb chip, MetaRAM devices can multiply capacity at prices far lower than their competition; the company claims it'll be shipping in machines in the first quarter of this year, and Hynix has already announced their own 2-rank 8GB DDR2 RDIMMs for the second half.
