The battle is over. Microsoft is finally changing the measuring methodology in its Task Manager from Mega Hertz (MHz) to Mega Transfers per second (MT/s). This comes amid the industry push for more technical correctness in RAM measuring, where the MHz nomenclature does not technically represent the speed at which the memory is actually running. While DRAM manufacturers list both MHz and MT/s, the advertised MHz number is much higher than the effective speed at which the DRAM is running, resulting in confusion and arguments in the industry about choosing the correct labeling of DRAM. A little history lesson teaches us that when single data rate (SDR) RAM was introduced, 100 MHz memory would perform 100 MT/s. However, when double data rate (DDR) memory appeared, it would allow for two memory transfers per clock cycle.

This would introduce some confusion where the MHz speed is often mixed up with MT/s. Hence, Microsoft is trying to repair the damage and list memory speeds in MT/s. Modern DDR5 memory makers are advertising DDR5 kits with "DDR5-4800" or "DDR5-6000," without any suffix like MHz or MT/s. This is because, for example, a DDR5-6000 kit runs at 6,000 MT/s, the effective speed is only 3,000 MHz. The actual clock of the memory is only half of what is advertised. The MT/s terminology would be more accurate and describe memory better. This Task Manager update is in the Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3570 in the Beta Channel, which will trickle down to stable Windows 11 updates for everyone soon.

TrendForce's latest forecasts reveal contract prices for DRAM in the second quarter are expected to increase by 13-18%, while NAND Flash contract prices have been adjusted to a 15-20% Only eMMC/UFS will be seeing a smaller price increase of about 10%.

Before the 4/03 earthquake, TrendForce had initially predicted that DRAM contract prices would see a seasonal rise of 3-8% and NAND Flash 13-18%, significantly tapering from Q1 as seen from spot price indicators which showed weakening price momentum and reduced transaction volumes. This was primarily due to subdued demand outside of AI applications, particularly with no signs of recovery in demand for notebooks and smartphones. Inventory levels were gradually increasing, especially among PC OEMs. Additionally, with DRAM and NAND Flash prices having risen for 2-3 consecutive quarters, the willingness of buyers to accept further substantial price increases had diminished.

Thanks to recent developments in the AI field, and following in the wake of the world's recovery from COVID-19, the transition of factories to partial or full automation proceeds with unstoppable momentum. And the best place to learn about the latest technologies that aim to make this transition as painless as possible is at Automate 2024. This is North America's largest robotics and automation event, and it will be held in Chicago, Illinois from May 6 to 9.

Automate attracts professionals from around the world, and Apacer is no exception. Apacer team will be on hand to discuss the latest technological developments created by our experienced R&D team. Many of these developments were specifically created to reduce the pain points commonly experienced by fully automated facilities. Take CoreSnapshot, for example. This backup and recovery technology can restore a crashed system to full operation in just a few seconds, reducing downtime and associated maintenance costs. Apacer recently updated CoreSnapshot, creating CoreRescue ASR and CoreRescue USR. The name of CoreRescue ASR refers to Auto Self Recovery. This technology will harness AI to learn the system booting process and analyze how long a boot should take. If this average boot time is significantly longer than usual, the system will trigger the self-recovery process and revert to an earlier, uncorrupted version of the drive's content. CoreRescue USR offers similar functionality, except the self-recovery process is triggered by connecting a small USB stick drive.

Avril Wu, TrendForce Senior Research Vice President, reports that the HBM market is poised for robust growth, driven by significant pricing premiums and increased capacity needs for AI chips. HBM's unit sales price is several times higher than that of conventional DRAM and about five times that of DDR5. This pricing, combined with product iterations in AI chip technology that increase single-device HBM capacity, is expected to dramatically raise HBM's share in both the capacity and market value of the DRAM market from 2023 to 2025. Specifically, HBM's share of total DRAM bit capacity is estimated to rise from 2% in 2023 to 5% in 2024 and surpass 10% by 2025. In terms of market value, HBM is projected to account for more than 20% of the total DRAM market value starting in 2024, potentially exceeding 30% by 2025.

2024 sees HBM demand growth rate near 200%, set to double in 2025
Wu also pointed out that negotiations for 2025 HBM pricing have already commenced in 2Q24. However, due to the limited overall capacity of DRAM, suppliers have preliminarily increased prices by 5-10% to manage capacity constraints, affecting HBM2e, HBM3, and HBM3e. This early negotiation phase is attributed to three main factors: Firstly, HBM buyers maintain high confidence in AI demand prospects and are willing to accept continued price increases.

SK hynix participated in the first-ever Compute Express Link Consortium Developers Conference (CXL DevCon) held in Santa Clara, California from April 30-May 1. Organized by a group of more than 240 global semiconductor companies known as the CXL Consortium, CXL DevCon 2024 welcomed a majority of the consortium's members to showcase their latest technologies and research results.

CXL is a technology that unifies the interfaces of different devices in a system such as semiconductor memory, storage, and logic chips. As it can increase system bandwidth and processing capacity, CXL is receiving attention as a key technology for the AI era in which high performance and capacity are essential. Under the slogan "Memory, The Power of AI," SK hynix showcased a range of CXL products at the conference that are set to strengthen the company's leadership in AI memory technology.

SK hynix showcased its next-generation technologies and strengthened key partnerships at the TSMC 2024 Technology Symposium held in Santa Clara, California on April 24. At the event, the company displayed its industry-leading HBM AI memory solutions and highlighted its collaboration with TSMC involving the host's CoWoS advanced packaging technology.

TSMC, a global semiconductor foundry, invites its major partners to this annual conference in the first half of each year so they can share their new products and technologies. Attending the event under the slogan "Memory, the Power of AI," SK hynix received significant attention for presenting the industry's most powerful AI memory solution, HBM3E. The product has recently demonstrated industry-leading performance, achieving input/output (I/O) transfer speed of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) in an AI system during a performance validation evaluation.

Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's largest semiconductor companies and the only U.S.-based manufacturer of memory, and the Biden-Harris Administration today announced that they have signed a non-binding Preliminary Memorandum of Terms (PMT) for $6.1 billion in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to support planned leading-edge memory manufacturing in Idaho and New York.

The CHIPS and Science Act grants of $6.1 billion will support Micron's plans to invest approximately $50 billion in gross capex for U.S. domestic leading-edge memory manufacturing through 2030. These grants and additional state and local incentives will support the construction of one leading-edge memory manufacturing fab to be co-located with the company's existing leading-edge R&D facility in Boise, Idaho and the construction of two leading-edge memory fabs in Clay, New York.

Following in the wake of an earthquake that struck on April 3rd, TrendForce undertook an in-depth analysis of its effects on the DRAM industry, uncovering a sector that has shown remarkable resilience and faced minimal interruptions. Despite some damage and the necessity for inspections or disposal of wafers among suppliers, the facilities' strong earthquake preparedness of the facilities has kept the overall impact to a minimum.

Leading DRAM producers, including Micron, Nanya, PSMC, and Winbond had all returned to full operational status by April 8th. In particular, Micron's progression to cutting-edge processes—specifically the 1alpha and 1beta nm technologies—is anticipated to significantly alter the landscape of DRAM bit production. In contrast, other Taiwanese DRAM manufacturers are still working with 38 and 25 nm processes, contributing less to total output. TrendForce estimates that the earthquake's effect on DRAM production for the second quarter will be limited to a manageable 1%.

All-in-one computers are often traditionally seen as lower-powered alternatives to traditional desktop workstations. However, a new offering from Alafia AI, a startup focused on medical imaging appliances, aims to shatter that perception. The company's upcoming Alafia Aivas SuperWorkstation packs serious hardware muscle, demonstrating that all-in-one systems can match the performance of their more modular counterparts. At the heart of the Aivas SuperWorkstation lies a 128-core Ampere Altra processor, running at 3.0 GHz clock speed. This CPU is complemented by not one but three NVIDIA L4 GPUs for compute, and a single NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada GPU for video output, delivering a combined 28,416 CUDA cores for accelerated parallel computing tasks. The system doesn't skimp on other components, either. It features a 4K touch display with up to 360 nits of brightness, an extensive 2 TB of DDR4 RAM, and storage options up to an 8 TB solid-state drive. This combination of cutting-edge CPU, GPU, memory, and storage is squarely aimed at the demands of medical imaging and AI development workloads.

The all-in-one form factor packs this incredible hardware into a sleek, purposefully designed clinical research appliance. While initially targeting software developers, Alafia AI hopes that institutions that can optimize their applications for the Arm architecture can eventually deploy the Aivas SuperWorkstation for production medical imaging workloads. The company is aiming for application integration in Q3 2024 and full ecosystem device integration by Q4 2024. With this powerful new offering, Alafia AI is challenging long-held assumptions about the performance limitations of all-in-one systems. The Aivas SuperWorkstation demonstrates that the right hardware choices can transform these compact form factors into true powerhouse workstations. Especially with a combined total output of three NVIDIA L4 compute units, alongside RTX 4000 Ada graphics card, the AIO is more powerful than some of the high-end desktop workstations.

A Chinese Topton company has brought new life to the AMD Vega graphics architecture by integrating it into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) motherboard. The Topton N9 NAS motherboard features the Intel Core i7-8705G processor, a unique chip that combines Intel CPU cores with AMD's RX Vega M GL graphics. The Intel Core i7-8705G, initially released in 2018, is an unusual choice for a NAS system. This 14 nm processor features four cores, eight threads, and a boost clock of up to 4.1 GHz. What sets it apart is the integrated AMD RX Vega M GL GPU with 20 Compute Units and 4 GB of HBM2 memory.

The Topton N9 NAS motherboard is designed for the 17×17 cm ITX form factor and offers a range of features like maximum support for 64 GB of DDR4 RAM, M.2 NVMe/SATA and SATA 3.0, eight Intel i226-V controllers for 2.5 Gbit networking, USB 3.0, USB Type-C, and HDMI 2.0 connectivity. While the Intel Core i7-8705G may not be the most obvious choice for a NAS system, the Topton N9 motherboard demonstrates how this unique processor can be repurposed to provide affordable computing power. The integrated AMD RX Vega graphics offer capabilities beyond typical NAS requirements, making this motherboard suitable for various applications, such as home firewalls and routers. The collaboration between Intel and AMD in creating the Kaby Lake-G processors was a rare occurrence in the industry. The Topton N9 starts at $288.56 without a fan/cooler, and adding another $20 bumps the price to $308.46.

TrendForce's latest report reveals that despite DRAM suppliers' efforts to trim inventories, they have yet to reach healthy ranges. As they continue to improve their lose situations by boosting capacity utilization rates, the overall demand outlook for this year remains tepid. Additionally, significant price increases by suppliers since 4Q23 are expected to further diminish the momentum for inventory restocking. As a result, DRAM contract prices for the second quarter are projected to see a modest increase of 3-8%.

The shift toward DDR5-compatible CPUs is set to drive an increase in PC DRAM demand in the second quarter. As manufacturers move toward more advanced, cost-efficient production processes for DDR5, their profitability is expected to rise significantly. This anticipation of higher DRAM prices in 1H24 has led to suppliers to aim for price increases in Q2, targeting a 3-8% hike in PC DRAM contract prices. Notably, even though DDR5 prices have already seen a notable rise in Q1—exceeding the average increase for other products—the expected emergence of AI PC demand may lead to a slight moderation in DDR5 price increases in Q2.

SK hynix unveiled a new consumer product based on its latest solid-state drive (SSD), PCB01, which boasts industry-leading performance levels at GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2024. Hosted by NVIDIA in San Jose, California from March 18-21, GTC is one of the world's leading conferences for AI developers. Applied to on-device AI PCs, PCB01 is a PCIe fifth-generation SSD which recently had its performance and reliability verified by a major global customer. After completing product development in the first half of 2024, SK hynix plans to launch two versions of PCB01 by the end of the year which target both major technology companies and general consumers.

Optimized for AI PCs, Capable of Loading LLMs Within One Second
Offering the industry's highest sequential read speed of 14 gigabytes per second (GB/s) and a sequential write speed of 12 GB/s, PCB01 doubles the speed specifications of its previous generation. This enables the loading of LLMs required for AI learning and inference in less than one second. To make on-device AIs operational, PC manufacturers create a structure that stores an LLM in the PC's internal storage and quickly transfers the data to DRAMs for AI tasks. In this process, the PCB01 inside the PC efficiently supports the loading of LLMs. SK hynix expects these characteristics of its latest SSD to greatly increase the speed and quality of on-device AIs.

MAINGEAR, a leading provider of high-performance custom PC systems, and Phison, a global leader in NAND controllers and storage solutions, today unveiled groundbreaking MAINGEAR PRO AI workstations with Phison's aiDAPTIV+ technology. Specifically engineered to democratize Large Language Model (LLM) development and training for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), these ultra-powerful workstations incorporate aiDAPTIV+ technology to deliver supercomputer LLM training capabilities at a fraction of the cost of traditional AI training servers.

As the demand for large-scale generative AI models continues to surge and their complexity increases, the potential for LLMs also expands. However, this rapid advancement in LLM AI technology has led to a notable boost in hardware requirements, making model training cost-prohibitive and inaccessible for many small to medium businesses.

Sony is preparing to launch its next-generation PlayStation 5 Pro console in the Fall of 2024, right around the holidays. We previously covered a few graphics details about the console. However, today, we get more details about the CPU and the overall system, thanks to the exclusive information from Insider Gaming. Starting off, the sources indicate that PS5 Pro system memory will get a 28% bump in bandwidth, where the standard PS5 console had 448 GB/s, and the upgraded PS5 Pro will get 576 GB/s. Apparently, the memory system is more efficient, likely coming from an upgrade in memory from the GDDR6 SDRAM of the regular PS5. The next upgrade is the CPU, which has special modes for the main processor. The CPU uArch is likely the same, with clocks pushed to 3.85 GHz, resulting in a 10% frequency increase.

However, this is only achieved in the "High CPU Frequency Mode," which steals the SoC's power from the GPU and downclocks it slightly to allocate more power to the CPU in highly CPU-intense settings. The GPU we discussed here is an RDNA 3 IP with up to 45% faster graphics rendering. The ray tracing performance can be up to four times higher than the regular PS5, while the entire GPU delivers 33.5 TeraFLOPS of FP32 single-precision computing. This comes from 30 WGP running BVH8 shaders vs the 18 WGPs running BVH4 shaders on the regular PS5. There are PSSR upscalers present, and the GPU can output 8K resolution, which will come with future software updates. Last but not least, the AI front also has a custom AI accelerator capable of 300 8-bit INT8 TOPS and 67 16-bit FP16 TeraFLOPS. Audio codecs are getting some love, as well, with ACV running up to 35% faster.

TrendForce reports that significant capital investments have occurred in the memory sector due to the high ASP and profitability of HBM. Senior Vice President Avril Wu notes that by the end of 2024, the DRAM industry is expected to allocate approximately 250K/m (14%) of total capacity to producing HBM TSV, with an estimated annual supply bit growth of around 260%. Additionally, HBM's revenue share within the DRAM industry—around 8.4% in 2023—is projected to increase to 20.1% by the end of 2024.

HBM supply tightens with order volumes rising continuously into 2024
Wu explains that in terms of production differences between HBM and DDR5, the die size of HBM is generally 35-45% larger than DDR5 of the same process and capacity (for example, 24Gb compared to 24Gb). The yield rate (including TSV packaging) for HBM is approximately 20-30% lower than that of DDR5, and the production cycle (including TSV) is 1.5 to 2 months longer than DDR5.

The latest TrendForce report reveals a notable 7.9% jump in 4Q23 revenue for the world's top ten semiconductor foundries, reaching $30.49 billion. This growth is primarily driven by sustained demand for smartphone components, such as mid and low-end smartphone APs and peripheral PMICs. The launch season for Apple's latest devices also significantly contributed, fueling shipments for the A17 chipset and associated peripheral ICs, including OLED DDIs, CIS, and PMICs. TSMC's premium 3 nm process notably enhanced its revenue contribution, pushing its global market share past the 60% threshold this quarter.

TrendForce remarks that 2023 was a challenging year for foundries, marked by high inventory levels across the supply chain, a weak global economy, and a slow recovery in the Chinese market. These factors led to a downward cycle in the industry, with the top ten foundries experiencing a 13.6% annual drop as revenue reached just $111.54 billion. Nevertheless, 2024 promises a brighter outlook, with AI-driven demand expected to boost annual revenue by 12% to $125.24 billion. TSMC, benefiting from steady advanced process orders, is poised to far exceed the industry average in growth.

TrendForce reports a 29.6% QoQ in DRAM industry revenue for 4Q23, reaching US$17.46 billion, propelled by revitalized stockpiling efforts and strategic production control by leading manufacturers. Looking ahead to 1Q24, the intent to further enhance profitability is evident, with a projected near 20% increase in DRAM contract prices—albeit with a slight decrease in shipment volumes to the traditional off-season.

Samsung led the pack with the highest revenue growth among the top manufacturers in Q4 as it jumped 50% QoQ to hit $7.95 billion, largely due to a surge in 1alpha nm DDR5 shipments, boosting server DRAM shipments by over 60%. SK hynix saw a modest 1-3% rise in shipment volumes but benefited from the pricing advantage of HBM and DDR5, especially from high-density server DRAM modules, leading to a 17-19% increase in ASP and a 20.2% rise in revenue to $5.56 billion. Micron witnessed growth in both volume and price, with a 4-6% increase in each, resulting in a more moderate revenue growth of 8.9%, totaling $3.35 billion for the quarter due to its comparatively lower share of DDR5 and HBM.

An Ebay Store—customgpu_official—is selling memory modified GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards. The outfit (located in Palo Alto, California) has a large inventory of MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti AERO cards—judging from their listing's photo gallery. Workers in China are reportedly upgrading these (possibly refurbished) units with extra lashings of GDDR6 VRAM—going from the original 11 GB specification up to 22 GB. We have observed smaller scale GeForce RTX 2080 Ti modification projects and a very ambitious user-modified example in the past, but customgpu's latest endeavor targets a growth industry—the item description states: "Why do you need a 22 GB 2080 Ti? Large VRAM is essential to cool AIGC apps such as stable diffusion fine tuning, LLAMA, LLM." At the time of writing three cards are available to purchase, and interested customers have already acquired four memory modded units.

They advertise their upgraded "Turbo Edition" card as a great "budget alternative" to more modern GeForce RTX 3090 and 4090 models—"more information and videos" can be accessed via 2080ti22g.com. The MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti AERO 11 GB model is not documented within TPU's GPU database, but its dual-slot custom cooling solution is also sported by the MSI RTX 2080 SUPER AERO 8 GB graphics card. The AERO's blower fan system creates a "mini-wind tunnel, pulling fresh air from inside the case and blowing it out the IO panel, and out of the system." The seller's asking price is $499 per unit—perhaps a little bit steep for used cards (potentially involved in mining activities), but customgpu_official seems to be well versed in repairs. Other Ebay listings show non-upgraded MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti AERO cards selling in the region of $300 to $400. Custom GPU Upgrade and Repair's hype video proposes that their modified card offers great value, given that it sells for a third of the cost of a GeForce RTX 3090—their Ebay item description contradicts this claim: "only half price compared with GeForce RTX 3090 with almost the same GPU memory."

Patch 2.11 for Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty is being rolled out on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. In this update we focused on fixing the most common issues encountered by players, including Finisher animations, and added a little something for Rayfield enthusiasts! PC-specific changes include the addition of a Hybrid CPU Utilization setting, which can be found under Gameplay → Performance. It can be set either to "Auto" (lets the operating system automatically decide how to distribute threads among the cores) or "Prioritize P-Cores" (prioritizes performance cores). It is set to "Auto" by default. We have also implemented a fix that improves graphics performance, especially on AMD Radeon RX Vega GPUs.

Visual Changes
Patch 2.11 adds Neon-lit rims for the Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X—these parts will now light up properly. We also fixed shadows appearing on V's torso when wearing tank tops, as well as dark shadows appearing on V's hands when holding some weapons with Ray Tracing enabled. The Devil and Judgment tarot cards will now be properly displayed on the end-game reward screen. For complete patch details, check out the full list of changes below.

Researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing have developed FlexRAM, the first fully flexible resistive RAM memory built using liquid metal. The innovative approach suspends droplets of gallium-based liquid metal in a soft biopolymer material. Applying voltage pulses oxidizes or reduces the metal, mimicking neuron polarization. This allows the reversible switching between high and low resistance states corresponding to bit 1s and 0s for data storage. Even when powered off, data persists in the inert liquid for 43,200 seconds (or 12 hours). The current FlexRAM prototype consists of 8 independent 1-bit memory units, storing a total of 1 byte. It has demonstrated over 3,500 write cycles, though further endurance improvements are needed for practical use. Commercial RAM is rated for millions of read/write cycles. The millimeter-scale metal droplets could eventually reach nanometer sizes, dramatically increasing memory density.

FlexRAM represents a breakthrough in circuits and electronics that can freely bend and flex. The researchers envision applications from soft robotics, medical implants, and flexible wearable devices. Compatibility with stretchable substrates unlocks enormous potential for emerging technologies. While still in the early conceptual stages, FlexRAM proves that computing and memory innovations that were once thought impossible or fanciful can become real through relentless scientific creativity. It joins a wave of pioneering flexible electronics research attaining more flexibility than rigid silicon allows. There are still challenges to solve before FlexRAM and liquid electronics can transform computing. But by proving a fluid-state memory device possible, the technology flows toward a radically different future for electronics and computation. Below, you can see the liquid metal droplet that is the FlexRAM breakthrough.

TrendForce's latest analysis reveals that the downswing of DRAM contract prices, which had lasted for eight consecutive quarters since 4Q21, was finally reversed in 4Q23. Likewise, NAND Flash rebounded in 3Q23 after four quarters of decline. The persistence of this rally in memory prices during 2024 will largely hinge on suppliers' ongoing and effective control over their capacity utilization rates.

According to TrendForce Senior Research Vice President, Avril Wu, the first quarter of this year is already shaping up to be a season of growth, with TrendForce confirming its initial projections: a hike of around 13-18% QoQ for DRAM contract prices and a hike of 18-23% for NAND Flash contract prices. Despite a generally conservative outlook for overall market demand in 2Q24, suppliers in both DRAM and NAND Flash markets have begun raising their capacity utilization rates since the end of 4Q23. Furthermore, NAND Flash buyers are anticipated to complete their inventory restocking in advance in 1Q24. Due to the rise in capacity utilization rates and earlier restocking efforts, leading to a more moderated QoQ price increase of 3-8% for both DRAM and NAND Flash contract prices for 2Q24.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2023 totaled $533 billion, a decrease of 11.1% from 2022, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.

"While the cyclicality in the semiconductor industry was present again in 2023, the market suffered a difficult year with memory revenue recording one of its worst declines in history," said Alan Priestley, VP Analyst at Gartner. "The underperforming market also negatively impacted several semiconductor vendors. Only 9 of the top 25 semiconductor vendors posted revenue growth in 2023, with 10 experiencing double-digit declines."

The combined semiconductor revenue of the top 25 semiconductor vendors declined 14.1% in 2023, accounting for 74.4% of the market, down from 77.2% in 2022.

Last week, Doc TB acted as a spokesperson for an updated version of everyone's favorite lightweight open source memory testing tool: "We have released Memtest86+ v7! 🎉 Now with live RAM settings displayed (supported on Core 1st to 14th Gen & AMD Ryzen CPUs) and preliminary ECC support (supported on some Ryzen CPUs). Give it a try at memtest.org 👍." Version 6.0 of Memtest86+, issued back in 2022, was a complete overhaul (courtesy of dev. Martin Whitaker) that revived the irregularly updated FOSS tool's fortunes. Recent media coverage has presented a more optimistic view of Memtest86+ (not to be confused with Passmark's similarly titled app)—several articles propose that a consistent release of future updates is feasible. Version 7.0's changelog documents a good number of highlighted improvements, including: "IMC polling for live RAM settings, preliminary support for ECC polling (on a selection of Ryzen CPUs), added support for MMIO UART, debugging options, plus various bug fixes & optimizations."

TrendForce reports that the DRAM contract prices are estimated to increase by approximately 13-18% in 1Q24 with mobile DRAM leading the surge. It appears that due to the unclear demand outlook for the entire year of 2024, manufacturers believe that sustained production cuts are necessary to maintain the supply-demand balance in the memory industry.

PC DRAM: The market is buzzing with unfilled DDR5 orders, while savvy buyers brace for a continued surge in DDR4 prices, keeping procurement engines running. This trend, however, is shadowed by a gradual industry pivot toward DDR5, casting uncertainty over the expansion of DDR4 bit procurement volumes. Despite this, both DDR4 and DDR5 prices have yet to hit the target set by manufacturers, and buyers seem ready to ride the wave of price hikes into 1Q24. This sets the stage for an estimated 10-15% in PC DRAM contract prices, with DDR5 poised to take the lead over DDR4 in this pricing rally.

Alphacool presents the ES U-shape RAM water cooler, an efficient way to successfully cool up to eight high-performance RAM modules in server and workstation systems. Modern RAM modules are becoming increasingly powerful and therefore generate more and more heat. The new U-shaped water cooler, made entirely of copper, can dissipate this heat very effectively. The reliable cooling of the RAM prevents power losses and thus ensures a stable system. Its flat design and versatile connection options allow for easy installation in almost any server or workstation setup. The inlets and outlets to the front and sides enable a highly flexible integration into the cooling circuit.

The Alphacool ES U-shape RAM water cooler has been specifically designed to meet the high demands of powerful memory modules in server and workstation systems. Up to 8 RAM modules can be efficiently cooled with the U-shaped water cooler. Its flat design and versatile connection options make it easy to install in almost any server or workstation case.