Following earlier reports of failing memory modules with Elpida Hyper chips, first Corsair and now OCZ Technology is stopping sales of Elpida Hyper DRAMs. Although OCZ claims it has not yet seen extended failures in its Elpida Hyper equipped memory modules, because an earlier batches were used, it is also pulling out the presumably affected memory modules and memory kits. This is OCZ's official statement:

In regards to the potential issues relating to Elpida Hyper IC's, OCZ has not yet seen extended failures in the field, and the Elipda Hyper IC's we have used came from earlier batches so we do not yet know if this is the reason why we are not seeing field issues but as a proactive measure based on the latest information from media reviewers like AnandTech we have officially held the use of any Elpida Hyper IC's at this time. Any customers that are seeing issues are encouraged to contact us and we will absolutely take care of all customers with a no questions asked refund or exchange for another OCZ product of equal value, whichever the customer prefers. We want to make sure that our customers have peace of mind and the confidence that we will take care of any and all issues related to modules that utilize Elpida Hyper chips.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Torqx M28 Series with capacities in 128 GB and 256 GB, backed by a new industry leading 10 year warranty for all Torqx SSD products.

The Torqx M28 SSD has been specifically designed with cutting-edge technology by increasing the DRAM cache from 64 MB to 128 MB of cache in conjunction with its current NAND flash technology. The ultimate result is an SSD that allows faster transfer rates between the controller and the host device. Compared to today†s hard drives, the Torqx SSD provides for better stability, faster access times, and lower power consumption. Consumers will also find added value with Patriot's included SSD bracket which makes using SSDs universal across all platforms; desktop or mobile.

Silicon Power's DDR3-1333/1066 dual channel memory module packs not only support the new Intel / AMD platforms but also benefits from Intel's Core i7 Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) technology boosting bandwidths up to 6.4GB/s. It is best suited for gaming, HD multimedia, intense graphic and video editing / processing work.

Silicon Power's DDR3-1333 /1066 memory modules are in compliance with JEDEC DDR3 standards. Using the new Fly-by circuit design for efficient communications between DRAM modules and the controller; its On-DIE Termination (ODT) technology dramatically reduces unwanted reflection signals and maximizes speed. Silicon Power insists on using original memory modules and FBGA packaging for better heat dissipation and accurate data transfer. Tested 100% proof for dual channel operation, Silicon Power's dual channel DDR3 memory pack is stable, durable and highly compatible.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and Flash application products, today introduced its new 64 GB capacity XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive, which is the first flash drive compatible with Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit). Coated with an elegant dark grey aluminum color, the XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive presents the high-performance USB flash drive in a simple yet stylish design of XPG product line. It offers capacity from 8GB to incredible 64GB, and supports up to 30MB/s (200X) read speed.

The XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive also certified for Windows Vist and Windows ReadyBoost, offering the high performance advantages to this operation system. Moreover, the XPG Xupreme 200X flash drive also comes with a practical leather strap and provides true "Plug and Play" function to make your storage utilization more convenient.

Transcend Information (Transcend), a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today released a new line of server-grade DDR3 ECC DIMM and Registered DIMM premium memory modules equipped with thermal sensors. This advanced innovation in thermal monitoring technology can greatly enhance memory reliability, efficiency, and overall system stability, making these new modules perfect for use in dedicated servers as well as workstations.
For high-end systems that constantly process huge amounts of data under non-stop operating conditions, CPU speed regulation and various other techniques to prevent overheating have become increasingly important in hardware design. In order to provide increased performance, Transcend now offers server-grade DDR3 modules that come equipped with an advanced thermal sensor. This allows motherboard chipsets to monitor the exact temperature of each memory module and adjust the memory load accordingly, ensuring the best possible system performance while at the same time protecting the DRAM modules from potentially catastrophic failure and compromised system stability.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today began shipping a new line of IDE flash disk modules (FDMs), primarily developed for embedded computing applications, that deliver unmatched reliability and fast transfer speeds.

These FDMs, also known as disk on module (DOM), are made first and foremost for extreme reliability in embedded computing applications. They incorporate a standard IDE hard drive interface and use solid state NAND flash as the storage media. With no moving parts, these FDMs will have a very long worry-free usable life in harsh manufacturing environments where hard drives would not survive, such as areas exposed to high levels of dust, shock, vibration or extreme temperatures. Super Talent included wear leveling, ECC and bad bit management as standard features to further enhance reliability and endurance.

DRAM major Elpida, like most other Japanese companies, is not seeing the best of days, in fact its worst. The world's third largest DRAM company holds great importance to the Japanese electronics industry. The state-backed Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) will acquire shares in the company, and the government has approved dispatching 30 billion Yen to the company as early as by next week. DBJ separately plans to offer 10 billion Yen, while another state-backed financial institution Japan Bank for International Cooperation, will provide 20~30 billion Yen in emergency loans.

Three of Japan's megabanks and others are expected to lend around 100 billion Yen to Elpida, said Nikkei daily, adding that a public-private fund that supports innovation will also consider providing tens of billions of Yen. In all, at least US 2.1 billion worth of aid is coming Elpida's way. More companies will follow suit and seek government aid.

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today showcased a silicon demonstration of a complete XDR memory system running at data rates up to 7.2Gbps with superior power efficiency. This silicon demonstration consists of Elpida's recently-announced 1Gb XDR DRAM device and an XIO memory controller transmitting realistic data patterns. The XIO memory controller is up to 3.5 times more power efficient than a GDDR5 controller, and the total memory system can provide up to two times more bandwidth than GDDR5 at equivalent power. In addition, the XIO memory controller demonstrated bi-modal operation with support for both XDR DRAM as well as next-generation XDR2 DRAM.

"Future graphics and multi-core processors require significantly higher memory performance under extremely challenging power and thermal constraints," said Martin Scott, senior vice president of Research and Technology Development at Rambus. "This technology demonstration highlights the outstanding power efficiency of the XDR and XDR2 memory architectures at performance levels from 3.2 to 7.2Gbps with scalability to well over 10Gbps."

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Numonyx B.V. today announced they are jointly developing market specifications for Phase Change Memory (PCM) products, a next generation memory technology that will help enable makers of feature-rich handsets and mobile applications, embedded systems* and high-end computing devices to meet the increasing performance and power demands for platforms loaded with content and data. Creating common hardware and software compatibility for PCM products should help simplify designs and shorten development time, enabling manufacturers to quickly transition to high-performance, low-power PCM products from both companies.

Phase change memory produces very fast read and write speeds at lower power than conventional NOR and NAND flash memory, and allows for bit alterability normally seen in RAM.

"Our joint efforts with Numonyx will enable a more secure path for introducing PCM into the mobile environment," said SeiJin Kim, vice president, mobile memory technology planning and enabling, Samsung Electronics. "We anticipate that PCM will eventually be a major addition to our family of memory products, one that will nicely compliment our other mobile memory solutions and ultimately increase our leadership in the industry," he added.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has developed the world's first 32 Gigabyte (GB) DDR3 module - for use in server systems. The new module operates at 1.35-volts, in support of the global trend to cut power usage in mass storage computing environments.
"Compared to the 8GB memory modules used in today's servers, our new module packs an eco-sensitive wallop with four times the density at significantly reduced power levels and no increase in the overall footprint," said Jim Elliott, vice president, memory marketing, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. "For data centers, it's a powerhouse in energy efficiency and performance," he added.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today launched a new line of MasterDrive SX SSDs that incorporate 128MB of DRAM cache and reach new performance levels in high performance laptops.

The MasterDrive SX is based on an advanced new 8-channel controller and MLC NAND Flash. Its 8-channel architecture combined with a hefty 128MB of DRAM cache takes full advantage of the 3Gbps SATA-II bandwidth. The MasterDrive SX is capable of sequential read speeds up to 220 MB/sec and sequential write speeds up to 200 MB/sec.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and Flash application products, presenting the killer speed of eight A-DATA S592 SSDs with XPG 3.5" converter configure in RAID 0 at Computex Taipei 2009. With the utilization of XPG 3.5" converter, the capacity can reach up to 1TB to perform 825 MB/s read and 1,115 MB/s write transfer rate.

The eight A-DATA S592 SSDs adopting the latest XPG EX93 3.5" SSD converter, equipped with safety lock mechanism that can easily secure the SSD/hard drive in 3.5"drive bay without purchasing any accessories, to keeps the valuable data operate in a safety environment. This functional and worthful XPG EX93 3.5" SSD converter is the best choice for those PC user and enthusiasts.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, announced it is introducing the PCIe RAIDDrive Workstation. These Workstations use Super Talent's patented RAIDSSD Technology to accelerate the adoption of systems with very high performance solid state disk subsystems through the integration of large numbers of SSDs. PCIe RAIDDrive Workstations are based on Intel's newest Quad-Core Core I7 Processors, and Super Talent's 1333MHz DDR3 DIMMs.

PCIe RAIDDrive Workstations scale up 6TB in a Workstation Tower form factor. Benchmarking data taken with Crystal Disk Mark v2.2 shows sustained sequential read speed of over 1.5 GB/sec (1500 MB/sec), sequential write speed of nearly 1.35 GB/sec (1350 MB/sec). Benchmarking data taken with HDBench showed random read speed of 725 MB/sec and random write speed of 515 MB/sec.

Rambus Inc., one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today unveiled a set of innovations that can advance computing main memory beyond current DDR3 data rate limits to 3200Mbps. These innovations, available for licensing, build on Rambus' award-winning designs and include patented and patent pending technologies. Through this collection of innovations, designers can achieve higher memory data rates, higher effective throughput, better power efficiency and the increased capacity necessary for future computing applications.

"Product advancements in multi-core computing, virtualization and chip integration put ever-increasing demands on the memory sub-system, a key performance limiter in today's performance computing systems," said Craig Hampel, Rambus Fellow. "This collection of breakthrough innovations from Rambus allows for memory systems that are better suited for the bandwidth and workloads of these throughput-oriented multi-core processors, increasing the design and solution space for future main memory to enable a new generation of computing platforms."

GeIL wants to be the first manufacturer touting the term "hexa-channel" (6-channel) DDR3 memory. While machine architectures using 6-channels (384-bit wide) memory interfaces don't exist, dual-Nehalem Xeon machines use two triple-channel memory arrays. It's a play of the word "6-channels" there. In any case, GeIL is now selling DDR3 memory in kits of six modules. Its lineup spans across three of its main memory product-lines: Value, Ultra, and Gaming series. The kits are available in a variety of configurations that include specified DRAM speeds, and timings, as listed by the table below. The kits come backed by the company's lifetime warranty.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced semiconductor technology solutions, today announced that it is ramping up 50-nm class production of DDR3 memory chips this month - the most advanced system memory available. This is in response to increased demand stemming from Intel Corporation's launch of its Intel Xeon processor 5500 series.
Samsung's DDR3 enables OEMs to design servers that use up to 192 gigabytes (GBs) per system (16 GBx12) and provides numerous improvements over its predecessor, DDR2, including at least a 60 percent improvement in power consumption and double the system performance, with speeds up to 1333 Megabits per second (Mbps).

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in high performance memory products, today introduced its newly speed of XPG Gaming Series DRAM module in DDR2-1066, as dual channel 2GBx2/1GBx2 and single channel kits up to 2GB. Designed for consumers who want to enhance their gaming ability, the XPG Gaming Series DDR2-1066G DRAM module provide CL6-6-6-18 timing at 2.0V±0.1V to delivering outstanding performance, speed, and gamer experience.

Optimized for the latest gaming platform, the XPG Gaming Series DDR2-1066G DRAM module delivers the perfect blend of performance, durability, and stability with low power consumption. It is an affordable midrange offering for gamer of all levels and the professionals demanding the latest DDR2 technology.

Elpida Memory (Elpida), Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it has begun mass production of the industry's highest density 2-gigabit Mobile RAM using 50 nm process technology at its Hiroshima fab.
Mobile RAM is an ultra low-power memory that is ideal for use in mobile phones and other portable devices and requires extremely advanced technology for development and production. As a leading supplier of mobile DRAM, Elpida has managed to quickly establish a full-scale 50 nm Mobile RAM production system using ArF immersion lithography and copper interconnect technology.

Power Quotient International Co., Ltd. (PQI) officially announces the release of DDR3 tri-channel memory kits. Compatible with current Intel X58 chipset's coupled with Intel i7 series CPU, the tri-channel technology provides significant memory bandwidth improvements over dual channel mode. It provides the ultimate performance for enthusiasts wanting the very best system performance every time they turn on their computers.

Due to software programming complexity and hardware requirements, the increased bandwidth and memory capacity definitely plays a major role in ones PC performance. Using specially picked DRAM modules in 128M*8 configuration combined with stringent testing methodology, its full compatibility and performance is ensured. PQI's DDR3 tri-channel kit offer users extra memory capacity and greater bandwidth compared to DDR2 modules.

Rambus today announced that it has agreed in principle to terms for a compulsory license with Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) for SDR SDRAM and DDR SDRAM memory products. The parties have agreed to royalty rates of 1% for SDR SDRAM and 4.25% for DDR SDRAM memory devices for net sales after January 31, 2009 and before April 18, 2010. The latter rate applies to DDR, DDR2, DDR3, GDDR, GDDR2 and GDDR3 SDRAM devices, as well as DDR SGRAM devices. In addition, a proposed final judgment of $349M in damages, plus pre-judgment interest of approximately $48M has been submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The final amount of pre-judgment interest depends on the date final judgment is entered. Damages and royalty rates are limited to U.S. infringements.

Kingston Memory released a 2 GB DDR2 HyperX SO-DIMM compatible with netbooks, MIDs and ULPCs supporting SO-DIMMs. The most peculiar part about this module is that it is PC2-4300 (DDR2-533 MHz) compliant. Kingston brandishes the DRAM timings of this module that puts in in the low-latency segment in today's scenario: 3-3-3-8. Kingston notes that the module is programmed in a way that lets any netbook or MID to automatically run at the modules tight DRAM timings. The module is backed by a lifetime warranty, it is priced at US $35.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced immediate availability of DDR3 Registered DIMMs (RDIMMs) and DDR3 ECC Unbuffered DIMMs (ECC UDIMMs).

Super Talent's 1GB and 2GB ECC UDIMMs are immediately available in production volumes and support speeds up to 1333MT/s for single DIMM per channel operation and 1066MT/s for two DIMM per channel operation. Super Talent's 1GB x8 RDIMM is also immediately available in production volumes and supports speeds up to 1333MT/s for single DIMM per channel operation, 1066MT/s for two DIMM per channel operation, and 800MT/s for three DIMM per channel operation. All these products are designed to be compatible with Intel's upcoming Nehalem EP Server Platform.

SiS Group Company- LinkVast Technologies Inc. today announced the first generation solid-state drive (SSD) memory controllers - LVT820 and LVT815 which manage the latest solid-state memory devices and support external DRAM interfaces to meet the advanced SSD hard drive performance requirements. In addition to standard size of Hard Disk Drive in Desktop PC, LVT820 and LVT815 also can be applied in various forms and sizes for different devices for Notebook/Netbook PC, Embedded system and specific application system markets.

With SATAII interface design, the data transfer rate of LVT820 and LVT815 up to 3Gbps. They support 8 channels (64bit/64CE) and 4 channels (32bit/32CE) memory systems respectively for the flexible and diverse capacity SSD hard drive usage. By designing with the architecture of 16-bit ECC technology, that ensures data transfer accuracy and achieve the reliability and longevity to SSD hard drive with built-in the Advanced Dynamic & Static Wear Leveling technology supporting.

Deteriorating economic conditions and decreased demand for 200 millimeter (mm) specialty DRAM products have created additional challenges for Micron Technology, Inc.'s Boise manufacturing operations. As a result, Micron announced today that it will phase out 200mm wafer manufacturing operations at the company's Boise facility. This action will reduce employment at Micron's Idaho sites by approximately 500 employees in the near term and as many as 2,000 positions by the end of the company's fiscal year. The company has sufficient manufacturing capacity remaining and does not expect any disruption in product supply required for customer needs.

Known by computer enthusiasts to be the company with some top quality PC coolers, Xigmatek, has a new product up its sleeve: the Dragoon N422 memory module heatsink cooler. The cooler serves as a replacement for the heatspreaders or stock-heatsinks memory modules come with. It can latch onto most standard-sized 240-pin DDR2 and DDR3 modules.

The cooler consists of two units that dissipate heat from either sides of the module. Each unit consists of a metal plate that makes contact with the module. The plate itself propagates into an arrangement of aluminum fins, but the interesting component is the copper heatpipe that runs through the length of the plate. The heatpipe makes direct contact the memory chips, and conveys heat to a small yet dense aluminum fin array. Two such plates are latched onto a module using screws. The total weight of the cooler per module (two plates) is 105g. It measures 131.1 (L) x 76.5 (W) x 9.6 (H) mm. Due to its design, the cooler can be used only on double-sided modules (modules with DRAM chips on both sides). The Dragoon N422 is yet to reach retail channels so we could tell its price.