Who invents RAM?

[Balli]

I was just curious about who actually sets the new standards of RAM? My current iMac G5 uses DDR RAM, the new iMac's seem to be using DDR2 RAM, etc. Who invents new RAM? Is it a comity? Have they published a roadmap telling us when DDR3 is coming out, etc.

I'm just curious...

 

[iW00t]

DDR3 is coming out with the next Core 2 Duo chips.

It is a consortium that establishes these standards...

 

[Balli]

It is a consortium that establishes these standards...

Thank you for the reply.

DDR3 is coming out with the next Core 2 Duo chips.

Do you mean Santa Rosa? Because what about chips from AMD? (I know that Apple don't use them), but why are RAM releases tied into Intel's Chip Roadmap?

 

[Kolind]

DDR3 is already being used in most high-end graphic cards.

 

[iW00t]

Do you mean Santa Rosa? Because what about chips from AMD? (I know that Apple don't use them), but why are RAM releases tied into Intel's Chip Roadmap?

It has nothing to do with Intel really, but the trend is that DDR2 memory is supposedly easier and cheaper to produce than DDR (at the expense of higher latencies, but higher clock speeds and lower power consumption). I guess they probably hit the end of the road with 667Mhz for DDR2 and hence will be adopting a new process for the 800mhz chips that Santa Rosa needs.

It is not so much Intel's roadmap is tied into that of DRAM, but more because with Intel's roadmap comes the demand for it. And as a capitalist you should have heard about supply and demand...

No point for memory manufacturers to make DDR3 modules now wouldn't it. Not a single laptop in the world can use it.

 

[MacsAttack]

I was just curious about who actually sets the new standards of RAM? My current iMac G5 uses DDR RAM, the new iMac's seem to be using DDR2 RAM, etc. Who invents new RAM? Is it a comity? Have they published a roadmap telling us when DDR3 is coming out, etc.

I'm just curious...

JEDEC is the consortium who establishes many of the standards.

http://www.jedec.org/

Timeframe for the introduction of new memory types is down to individual manufacturers. Until...

1. DDR3 modules are manufactured

and

2. Intel (in the case of future Macs) produces a chipset that can use the new memory

... you are not going to see DDR3 in Macs.