Last year, Crucial canned its Ballistix brand of gaming focused memory, but it seems like the company still wants to offer its customers a more premium product, as Crucial has just introduced its new Pro series of memory products. Crucial will offer its new Pro series in both DDR5 and DDR4 flavours at either DDR5-5600 or DDR4-3200 speeds. It should be noted that the DDR4 modules still rely on a green PCB, while the DDR5 modules get the same black PCB as Crucial's regular DDR5 modules. Beyond the heatsink, there isn't much that differs between the Pro series and Crucial's regular modules, but there is one thing that might matter to potential buyers.

Crucial has added support for AMD EXPO and Intel XMP 3.0 to its Pro series of modules. In the case of AMD EXPO this only applies to DDR5 modules, whereas the DDR4 modules support Intel XMP 2.0, in this case a feature its standard DDR4 modules lack. This should make it easier for end users to take advantage of the extra performance offered by some of these modules. That said, as Crucial has stuck to JEDEC timings, taking the Pro DDR5-5600 UDIMM kit as an example, you end up with timings of 46-46-45-45 at 1.1 Volts, where competing products have timings in the range of 36-36-36-36, although usually at 1.25 Volts or higher. Even as far as JEDEC timing goes, Crucial has chosen the middle ground for DDR5 5600, as there is a timing option from JEDEC that supports 40-40-40-40, which would make more sense for a more premium product. Price wise, a 32 GB kit with two 16 GB modules of DD5-5600 modules carries an $11 price premium over Crucials standard modules, with a retail price of US$114.99 versus US$103.99, but there are better options out there at this price point.

The NAND memory industry is not in great shape at the moment, with the big three (Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix) having reported significant financial losses in this area recently. If you include Kioxia and Western Digital as part of this collective picture, a grand total of over $10 billion has been lost in the flash memory segment. According to DigiTimes Asia this week, Pua Khein-Seng - the chief executive officer of Phison Electronics Corporation - has warned that parts of the industry could collapse due to potential company bankruptcies.

Khein-Seng informed attendees at a press conference that forced NAND price cuts are not feasible in the current market environment, and that supply chains could be affected if related companies start to shutdown - due to operational losses. He expects 3D NAND manufacturers to cutback on output in order to soften the market, and unit price increases are also a possibility. Phison has experienced a drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2023, but the CEO insists that his company is not willing to cutback on research and development costs - 80% of its annual expense budget will be invested in future projects. Khein-Seng states that rival companies have reduced spending on R&D by 20%, yet Phison remains committed to its clients by providing cutting edge technology (for example the E26 SSD memory controller).

The latest AMD AGESA 1.0.0.7 AM5 platform microcode that the company recently released to improve stability of machines powered by Ryzen 7000X3D processors, more importantly, prevent them from physical damage due to increased voltage in voltage-assisted overclocking scenarios; reportedly impacts memory overclocking capabilities, too, reports g01d3nm4ng0. The "PROCHOT Control" and "PROCHOT Deassertation Ramp" toggles that were available in the oldest versions of AGESA for AM5, are not available in the latest production AGESA.

The memory compatibility is also affected. AMD recently added support for odd-density DDR5 memory modules, such as 24 GB and 48 GB, which make up 48 GB and 96 GB 2-module (dual-channel, four sub-channel) kits. It is possible to max out 192 GB, but while the older AGESA 1.0.0.6 allowed memory frequencies of up to DDR5-6000 with SoC voltage of 1.3 V, the newer AGESA is only stable up to DDR5-4400 at this density. To be fair, most motherboards advertise maximum memory frequencies of under DDR5-4800 for memory configurations where there are two DIMMs per channel, and both DIMMs are dual-rank (so four dual-rank DIMMs in all, which is the least optimal memory configuration from a memory frequency and latency perspective).

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NEO Semiconductor, a leading developer of innovative technologies for 3D NAND flash and DRAM memory, today announced the launch of its ground-breaking technology, 3D X-DRAM. This development is the world's first 3D NAND-like DRAM cell array that is targeted to solve DRAM's capacity bottleneck and replace the entire 2D DRAM market. Relevant patent applications were published with the United States Patent Application Publication on April 6, 2023.

"3D X-DRAM will be the absolute future growth driver for the Semiconductor industry," said Andy Hsu, Founder and CEO of NEO Semiconductor and an accomplished technology inventor with more than 120 U.S. patents. "Today I can say with confidence that Neo is becoming a clear leader in the 3D DRAM market. Our invention, compared to the other solutions in the market today, is very simple and less expensive to manufacture and scale. The industry can expect to achieve 8X density and capacity improvements per decade with our 3D X-DRAM."

The 43rd edition of the Symposium on VLSI Technology & Circuits, held annually in Kyoto Japan, is charting the way forward for the devices of the future. Held between June 11-16, 2023, this year's symposium will see structured presentations, Q&A, and discussions on some of the biggest technological developments in the logic chip world. The lead (plenary) sessions drop a major hint on the way the wind is blowing. Leadning from the front is an address by Suraya Bhattacharya, Director, System-in-Package, A*STAR, IME, on "Multi-Chiplet Heterogeneous Integration Packaging for Semiconductor System Scaling."

Companies such as AMD and Intel read the tea-leaves, that Moore's Law is buckling, and it's no longer economically feasible to build large monolithic processors at the kind of prices they commanded a decade ago. This has caused companies to ration their allocation of the latest foundry node to only the specific components of their chip design that benefit the most from the latest node, and identify components that don't benefit as much, and disintegrate them into separate dies build on older foundry nodes, which are then connected through innovative packaging technologies.

v-color Technology Inc., an industry leader in cutting-edge memory solutions, proudly unveils the game-changing 48 GB (24 GB x2) DDR5-8200 38-52-52-130 Manta XPrism RGB Extreme OC Memory in a range of 7200 to 8200 MHz kits. This state-of-the-art memory module is meticulously designed to cater to the evolving needs of gamers, overclockers, and enthusiasts who demand top-notch performance, reliability, and aesthetics.

The Manta XPrism RGB 48 GB (24 GB x2) DDR5-8200 CL38 Extreme OC Memory is crafted with the latest technological advancements, delivering unbeatable speed and efficiency. Featuring a 48 GB memory capacity and a staggering 8200 MHz frequency, this DDR5 memory module is poised to transform the performance of any high-end gaming or workstation system.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, is proud to announce the release of its latest DDR4 DRAM, the Heatsink Storming-V series. The DDR4 DRAM, Storming-V series, is a highly versatile memory module that caters to a wide range of users, from casual content consumption such as watching TV shows, movies and listening to music, to avid gamers who demand engaging stories, stunning graphics, and solid gameplay. Moreover, pro gamers who prioritize speed and performance will find the Heatsink Storming-V series highly appealing.

With its optimized memory speed, timing, voltage settings, and unique design that offers overclocking capabilities, ultra-fast data access, and optimal cooling, the Heatsink Storming-V series delivers unmatched performance and reliability. Therefore, whether you are a casual user or a pro gamer, the Storming-V series is the perfect memory module that caters to your specific needs.

MSI has been in close contact with the AMD and has referred to their official technical guidance to provide users with a safer and more optimized hardware environment. To achieve this goal, MSI will release a new list of BIOS updates specifically for the AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPU.

According to AMD's design specifications, the Ryzen 7000X3D series CPU does not fully support overclocking or overvoltage adjustments, including CPU ratio and CPU Vcore voltage. However, AMD EXPO technology can be used to optimize memory performance by appropriately increasing the CPU SoC voltage to ensure system stability when operating at higher memory frequencies.

Yesterday SK Hynix reported its Q1 2023 results and to say that they were abysmal is being kind, as the company reported a 3.4 trillion won operating loss, or just over US$2.5 billion. That's no small hit to take for any company, especially when it's only the performance for a single quarter. However, SK Hynix is apparently trying to see its situation from a positive perspective and believes that the memory chip market will rebound in the second half of this year. The positive outlook isn't just based on what SK Hynix believes though, as various analysts and securities companies believe in an upswing in the second half of the year.

That said, Micron, one of SK Hynix main competitors, has a more drab outlook for the remainder of 2023 and is expecting a tough year ahead. SK Hynix is expecting production cuts by itself, Micron and Samsung to start to take effect sometime in the second quarter this year, which should see inventory drop to more normal levels for all three companies. SK Hynix is also expecting to see a higher demand for DDR5 DRAM later this year, especially in the mobile and server market space. Finally, SK Hynix is hoping that its customers will buy higher density memory products this year, replacing older, lower density solutions, be that DRAM or NAND flash related. SK Hynix is expecting to launch its Gen 5 10 nm DRAM and 238-layer NAND sometime next year, which the company is also hoping will bring more income to its coffers, but the company still has to make it through the rest of 2023 first.

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. The Company posted KRW 63.75 trillion in consolidated revenue, a 10% decline from the previous quarter, as overall consumer spending slowed amid the uncertain global macroeconomic environment. Operating profit was KRW 0.64 trillion as the DS (Device Solutions) Division faced decreased demand, while profit in the DX (Device eXperience) Division increased.

The DS Division's profit declined from the previous quarter due to weak demand in the Memory Business, a decline in utilization rates in the Foundry Business and continued weak demand and inventory adjustments from customers. Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) saw earnings in the mobile panel business decline quarter-on-quarter amid a market contraction, while the large panel business slightly narrowed its losses. The DX Division's results improved on the back of strong sales of the premium Galaxy S23 series as well as an enhanced sales mix focusing on premium TVs.

KLEVV, an emerging memory brand introduced by Essencore, is excited to unveil two new high performance DDR5 overclocking memory, the CRAS V RGB and the BOLT V. Designed to cater to a wide range of users, the CRAS V RGB and BOLT V DDR5 memory empower all aspects of computational requirements. They deliver outstanding performance on the latest AMD and Intel platforms, from gaming to content creation, with Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO overclocking features. Furthermore, the CRAS V RGB and BOLT V DDR5 memory are fully battle-hardened, passing the QVL tests required by major motherboard manufacturers. With strictly selected memory chips and meticulous manufacturing processes, they ensure the highest level of reliability, tailored to perform multitasking operation effortlessly.

Released under KLEVV's flagship memory range, the CRAS V RGB memory features modern design refined with exquisite attention to detail. Precision crafted aluminium heatsink highlighted by signature RGB lights visible on both top and fine gaps on the sides make for a sight to behold. The RGB lights are fully customizable and controllable with third-party software provided by world-renown motherboard manufacturers like ASUS, ASROCK, Gigabyte, and MSI with corresponding hardware, serving as the centerpiece of any build. The 32 GB (16 GB x2) 288 Pin DDR5 unbuffered DIMM kits are available in four base clock options starting at 6000MT/s, 6400MT/s, 7200MT/s, 7600MT/s, and extending up to blazing-fast 8000 MT/s.

It seems like the long boot times that have plagued MSI's X670 and B650 motherboards might soon be nothing but a bad memory, as the company has issued UEFI updates for its motherboards that are said to cut the boot times in half. The company has added what it calls "Memory Context Restore" in the new UEFI releases, which speeds up the boot times significantly. MSI didn't provide any details as to what the feature does, but according to a post on MSI's forum, it is meant to avoid retraining of the RAM and is a feature that MSI had offered on past AMD platforms.

The chart below shows the boot times using two 16 GB DDR5-6000 modules from Kingston with EXPO and with Memory Context Restore enabled, the boot time goes from 43 to 22 seconds. The specific test system was using MSI's own MAG X670E Tomahawk WiFi motherboard, paired with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU.If you have an MSI X670 or B650 motherboard and want to take advantage of the new improved boot times, head over to MSI's website and downloaded the latest UEFI version for your motherboard.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) sources, Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) has been plotting to manufacture its advanced 3D NAND flash using locally sourced equipment. As the source notes, YMTC has placed big orders from local equipment makers in a secret project codenamed Wudangshan, named after the Taoist mountain in the company's home province of Hubei. Last year, YTMC announced significant progress towards creating 200+ layer 3D NAND flash before other 3D NAND makers like Micron and SK Hynix. Called X3-9070, the chip is a 232-layer 3D NAND based on the company's advanced Xtacking 3.0 architecture.

As the SCMP finds, YTMC has placed big orders at Beijing-based Naura Technology Group, maker of etching tools and competitor to Lam Research, to manufacture its advanced flash memory. Additionally, YTMC has reportedly asked all its tool suppliers to remove all logos and other marks from equipment to avoid additional US sanctions holding the development back. This significant order block comes after the state invested 7 billion US Dollars into YTMC to boost its production capacity, and we see the company utilizing those resources right away. However, few industry analysts have identified a few "choke points" in YTMC's path to independent manufacturing, as there are still no viable domestic alternatives to US-based tool makers in areas such as metrology tools, where KLA is the dominant player, and lithography tools, where ASML, Nikon, and Canon, are noteworthy. The Wuhan-based Wudangshan project remains secret about dealing with those choke points in the future.

Netlist Inc. an enterprise solid state storage drive specialist has been awarded over $303 million in damages by a federal jury in Texas on April 21, over apparent patent infringement on Samsung's part. Netlist has alleged that the South Korean multinational electronics corporation had knowingly infringed on five patents, all relating to improvements in data processing within the design makeup of memory modules intended for high performance computing (HPC) purposes. The Irvine, CA-based computer-memory specialist has sued Samsung in the past - with a legal suit filed at the Federal District Court for the Central District of California.

Netlist was seemingly pleased by the verdict reached at the time (2021) when the court: "granted summary judgements in favor of Netlist and against Samsung for material breach of various obligations under the Joint Development and License Agreement (JDLA), which the parties executed in November 2015. A summary judgment is a final determination rendered by the judge and has the same force and effect as a final ruling after a jury trial in litigation."

SK hynix announced today it has become the industry's first to develop 12-layer HBM3 product with a 24 gigabyte (GB) memory capacity, currently the largest in the industry, and said customers' performance evaluation of samples is underway. HBM (High Bandwidth Memory): A high-value, high-performance memory that vertically interconnects multiple DRAM chips and dramatically increases data processing speed in comparison to traditional DRAM products. HBM3 is the 4th generation product, succeeding the previous generations HBM, HBM2 and HBM2E

"The company succeeded in developing the 24 GB package product that increased the memory capacity by 50% from the previous product, following the mass production of the world's first HBM3 in June last year," SK hynix said. "We will be able to supply the new products to the market from the second half of the year, in line with growing demand for premium memory products driven by the AI-powered chatbot industry." SK hynix engineers improved process efficiency and performance stability by applying Advanced Mass Reflow Molded Underfill (MR-MUF)# technology to the latest product, while Through Silicon Via (TSV)## technology reduced the thickness of a single DRAM chip by 40%, achieving the same stack height level as the 16 GB product.

Kingston FURY, the high-performance division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced it has shipped more than 100 million overclockable modules. In 2002, Kingston entered the enthusiast market with a line of high-performance memory modules under the Kingston HyperX name. Over the next 19 years Kingston grew the HyperX name within the enthusiast and gaming space until its sale of the peripheral line to HP in 2021. Continuing the incredible success of the HyperX memory products, Kingston rebranded its high-performance component lines into Kingston FURY, investing resources and knowledge from its core business to create the next generation of enthusiast products. Today, the engineering expertise behind the numerous overclocking records and awards continues into a new era of leading-edge, high-performance, enthusiast and gaming solutions.

Since its inception, Kingston has taken pride in its testing innovations and industry-leading product reliability. Back in 2005, Kingston was granted a U.S patent on a proprietary, first of its kind, dynamic burn-in tester. This ensured the utmost reliability in server memory modules used in the world's largest data centres. Earlier this year, Kingston broadened its portfolio by adding the Kingston FURY Renegade Pro DDR5 RDIMM which provides overclockable server-class DDR5 memory for creators, engineers, and data science professionals to meet the requirements of the latest applications. Its award-winning line of Kingston FURY Beast DDR5 and Renegade DDR5 memory modules also received a makeover with the introduction of white heat spreaders to empower users to choose the colour that best fits their individual style.

Demonstrating continued innovation, Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corp. today announced details of their newest 3D flash memory technology. Applying advanced scaling and wafer bonding technologies, the 3D flash memory delivers exceptional capacity, performance and reliability at a compelling cost, which makes it ideal for meeting the needs of exponential data growth across a broad range of market segments.

"The new 3D flash memory demonstrates the benefits of our strong partnership with Kioxia and our combined innovation leadership," said Alper Ilkbahar, Senior Vice President of Technology & Strategy at Western Digital. "By working with one common R&D roadmap and continued investment in R&D, we have been able to productize this fundamental technology ahead of schedule and deliver high-performance, capital-efficient solutions."

It looks like 12 GB will be the standard memory size for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card the company plans to launch in mid-April 2023. It is very likely that the card has 12 GB of memory across the 192-bit memory bus width of the "AD104" silicon the SKU is based on. The RTX 4070 is already heavily cut down from the RTX 4070 Ti that maxes out the "AD104," with the upcoming SKU featuring just 5,888 CUDA cores, compared to the 7,680 of the RTX 4070 Ti. The memory sub-system, however, could see NVIDIA use the same 21 Gbps-rated GDDR6X memory chips, which across the 192-bit memory interface, produce 504 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Confirmation of the memory size came from regulatory filings of several upcoming custom-design RTX 4070 board models by MSI and GIGABYTE, with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), and Korean NRRA.

Gigabyte is also apparently testing the new BIOS update that should bring non-binary memory support to AMD's 600-series chipset motherboards. With the official AGESA update for AMD X670 and B650 apparently just around the corner, it does not come as a surprise that all motherboard makers are implementing it and testing it on their motherboards.

The latest comes from Gigabyte over at Coolaler forums, showing the AORUS X670E Master motherboard running 192 GB of DDR5 memory. This time around, the memory was running at 6000 MT/s, so the official support is certainly around the corner, even for overclocked kits. Both Corsair and G.SKILL have already announced their own 24 GB and 48 GB modules running at up to DDR5-8000. The official AGESA update is rumored to come in April, but there is no official word from either AMD or various motherboard makers.

T-FORCE, the gaming sub-brand of Team Group, has launched the blazing-fast VULCAN SO-DIMM DDR5 Memory for laptop gamers looking to upgrade to next-generation DDR5 memory. The VULCAN Memory delivers incredible performance with a simple installation and comes in a range of large capacities, making it the perfect choice for boosting one's gaming experience as well as productivity. Thanks to its ultra-thin graphene heatspreader that enhances cooling; it keeps laptops stable during intensive gaming and allows players to seize victory at the most critical moments.

Following the release of DDR5 desktop memory, the new generation of extremely-fast RAM from T-FORCE has swept the PC hardware world. Today, T-FORCE is launching its first VULCAN SO-DIMM DDR5 Memory designed specifically for gaming laptops. Offering a max clock rate of DDR5-5200 and featuring an ultra-thin graphene heatspreader, gamers will experience shorter load times and faster boot-up speeds while still maintaining low laptop temperatures. With up to 64 GB of capacity, players will enjoy unimpeded gaming and use work applications simultaneously. The new release of VULCAN SO-DIMM brings a whole new level of performance and user experience.

Colorful Technology Company Limited, a professional manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards, all-in-one gaming and multimedia solutions, and high-performance storage, announces the Battle-Ax Redline Series gaming memory. Available in DDR4 and DDR5 memory kits, the Battle-Ax Redline Series are designed for the latest generation Intel and AMD platforms.

The Battle-Ax Redline Series sports a new look - a low-profile heatspreader with an aggressive styling that fits its beastly performance specifications. The Battle-Ax Redline DDR5 sports a white/red heatspreader while the Battle-Ax Redline DDR4 comes in black/red color.

Kingston today unveiled the FURY Renegade Pro DDR5 RDIMM memory for workstations based on the Intel W790 platform (Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 series "Sapphire Rapids" processors). The company is marking these as "overclockable" registered ECC DIMMs, as they come with Intel XMP 3.0 profiles that enable their advertised speeds on Intel platforms. The FURY Renegade Pro series comes in DDR5-6000 (32-38-38 1.35 V), DDR5-5600 (36-38-38 1.25 V), and DDR5-4800 (36-38-38 1.1 V) speed; with module densities of 16 GB and 32 GB (per DIMM); making up single-module kits, 4-module kits (for W-2400 platforms), and 8-module kits (for W-3400 platforms). The modules themselves are bare—lacking in heatspreaders, with a thin decal covering the DRAM chips. These are standard-height DIMMs.

In response to the increasing demand for powerful computing that can be relied on in a wide range of even the most challenging installation environments, leading industrial computing manufacturer and solution provider, OnLogic (www.onlogic.com), has unveiled their Helix 401 fanless industrial computer. The compact device is designed for use in edge computing, industry 4.0, Internet of Things (IoT), and many other emerging applications and will make its public debut at Embedded World 2023.

"You may never see them, but industrial computers are everywhere, working diligently to power technology solutions of every shape and size. These systems need to be small and reliable while still being just as powerful as high-end desktop machines," says Mike Walsh, Senior Product Manager at OnLogic. "The Helix 401 balances size and performance while providing a wide range of configuration possibilities to help users tailor it to their specific application. It's small enough to fit in your hand, similar in size to Intel's popular NUC, but capable enough to drive advanced automation solutions and power the next great smart agriculture, building automation or energy management innovation."

It has been reported by multiple users across several online communities that their Wii U consoles are no longer functioning properly. The error codes 160-0103 and 160-2155 are the dreaded indicators of memory corruption. It has been discovered that the NAND Flash within the Wii U's internal eMMC is prone to failure. According to details gleaned from teardowns of the console's hardware, Nintendo has implemented either Toshiba or Samsung flash storage boards for the various revisions of the console. There has been an uptick in the rate of bricked Wii U consoles across recent months, but the problems seem to have occurred as far back as 2015, according to archived posts on the GBA Temp forum. It is speculated that leaving the Wii U inactive for long periods of time can lead to the memory corruption issues.