OCZ to slash SSD drive prices by 30 percent in 2012 thanks to TLC NAND flash memory

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Summary: We all know that the biggest impediment to the greater use of solid state drives in desktops and laptops is cost. While they don’t have moving parts and take up less space than traditional hard drives, SSDs still can’t deliver cheap enough cost-per-gigabyte storage to stop from the PC industry from freaking out over a [...]

We all know that the biggest impediment to the greater use of solid state drives in desktops and laptops is cost. While they don’t have moving parts and take up less space than traditional hard drives, SSDs still can’t deliver cheap enough cost-per-gigabyte storage to stop from the PC industry from freaking out over a looming hard drive shortage.

Prices for SSD drives have certainly dropped over time, but OCZ is gearing up to lower the entry price significantly as early as the first quarter of 2012. That’s when the company’s first SSDs using its new TLC (triple-bit-per-cell) NAND flash memory will start shipping. TLC can be as much as 30-percent cheaper as MLC (multi-layer cell) NAND flash.

As you might imagine given initial plans for TLC flash to be used in USB drives and memory cards, TLC-based SSD drives will suffer from worse endurance than their pricier brethren, though OCZ says TLC flash will still last for four years. The company claims that its Indilinx nDurance technology will help with TLC’s limited redundancy (offering only about 10 percent the number of writes that MLC offers).

If the hard drive shortage has indeed made this SSD’s time to shine (as Fudzilla argues), then OCZ couldn’t have timed the introduction of its TLC drives any better. Solid-state drives still won’t be dirt cheap, but any significant downward price pressure will only help deflate competitors’ prices.

[Via X-bit labs]

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.

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AMD introduces Radeon-branded system memory for consumers, graphics memory for video card makers

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Summary: While you wait for wait impatiently for the first Bulldozer chips to ship, AMD has released something to consider when you’re building your system around the new processors. The company has just introduced Radeon brand DDR3 SDRAM — that’s right, system memory — for consumers, and graphics memory for manufacturers of Radeon graphics cards. It’s unclear [...]

While you wait for wait impatiently for the first Bulldozer chips to ship, AMD has released something to consider when you’re building your system around the new processors. The company has just introduced Radeon brand DDR3 SDRAM — that’s right, system memory — for consumers, and graphics memory for manufacturers of Radeon graphics cards.

It’s unclear why AMD has decided now is the time to enter the memory business, and while AMD.com has information on Radeon memory, there’s been no formal launch of the new products. The chip company is releasing three lines of RAM that it claims are optimized for its new Llano APUs and Bulldozer CPUs, all in 2GB DIMMs: an Entertainment series, an Ultra Pro gaming series, and an Enterprise series for servers.

The Entertainment module runs at 1333MHz with 9-9-9 timings, whereas the gaming memory runs at 1600MHz with 11-11-11 timings. These specs are still “TBD” for the Enterprise series. This memory is apparently already available in Japan, though AMD’s silence means any kind of release dates for the U.S. are also TBD.

Radeon graphics memory is likewise divided into three lines: Value, Mainstream, and Gaming Entertainment. The former two use DDR3 (running at 800Mhz and 900MHz-1000MHz, respectively), while the latter is GDDR5 memory clocked from 1000MHz to 1500MHz. AMD says the graphics memory is “specially tuned to compliment and maximize the performance” of the latest Radeon cards.

Would you have any interest in buying Radeon memory for your new AMD build? Why or why not? Let us know in the Comments section.

[Via Fudzilla]

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.

View the original article here