Gigabyte's i-RAM storage device
WHILE MICROPROCESSORS HAVE enjoyed rapid performance increases thanks to new chip fabrication technologies, higher clock speeds, and multiple cores, hard drives have struggled to overcome the mechanical latencies and challenges associated with spinning rewritable media at thousands of rotations per minute. Hard drives have picked up a few tricks over the years, growing smarter thanks to command queuing and learning to team up in multi-drive RAID arrays, but they're still the slowest components in a modern PC.
Those dissatisfied with the performance of mechanical storage solutions can tap solid-state storage devices that substitute silicon for spinning platters. Such devices shed the mechanical shackles that limit hard drive performance, but they've hardly been affordable options for most users. Then Gigabyte unveiled the i-RAM, a $150 solid state-storage device that plugs directly into a motherboard's Serial ATA port, accommodates up to four run-of-the-mill DDR SDRAM modules, and behaves like a normal hard drive without the need for additional drivers or software.
Gigabyte's i-RAM storage device - The Tech Report - Page 1
No more waiting for Windows XP to boot up
Giga-byte's iRam is a PC add-in card with four DDR DRAM (double data rate dynamic RAM memory slots) that's designed to be used as a PC drive. Because the iRam uses DRAM rather than a hard-disk to store information, data can be retrieved from the drive up to 60 times faster than is possible with a hard drive, according to Giga-byte, which showed the board at the Computex exhibition in Taipei this week.
The iRam was originally designed for video and editing applications where users require fast access to very large files, but the company soon realized that the iRam had other potential applications, said Tim Handley, a marketing account manager at the company.
For users who are tired of sitting around and waiting for their Windows-based PCs to boot up, they can install Windows on the iRam and use that as the drive to start the system more quickly, Handley said. When the card is used in this way, starting Windows XP is a matter of seconds, rather than a minute or more, he said.
The iRam can also be used by gamers, who want to reduce the time required to access stored data, he said.
PC add-in card touted
Those dissatisfied with the performance of mechanical storage solutions can tap solid-state storage devices that substitute silicon for spinning platters. Such devices shed the mechanical shackles that limit hard drive performance, but they've hardly been affordable options for most users. Then Gigabyte unveiled the i-RAM, a $150 solid state-storage device that plugs directly into a motherboard's Serial ATA port, accommodates up to four run-of-the-mill DDR SDRAM modules, and behaves like a normal hard drive without the need for additional drivers or software.
Gigabyte's i-RAM storage device - The Tech Report - Page 1
No more waiting for Windows XP to boot up
Giga-byte's iRam is a PC add-in card with four DDR DRAM (double data rate dynamic RAM memory slots) that's designed to be used as a PC drive. Because the iRam uses DRAM rather than a hard-disk to store information, data can be retrieved from the drive up to 60 times faster than is possible with a hard drive, according to Giga-byte, which showed the board at the Computex exhibition in Taipei this week.
The iRam was originally designed for video and editing applications where users require fast access to very large files, but the company soon realized that the iRam had other potential applications, said Tim Handley, a marketing account manager at the company.
For users who are tired of sitting around and waiting for their Windows-based PCs to boot up, they can install Windows on the iRam and use that as the drive to start the system more quickly, Handley said. When the card is used in this way, starting Windows XP is a matter of seconds, rather than a minute or more, he said.
The iRam can also be used by gamers, who want to reduce the time required to access stored data, he said.
PC add-in card touted
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