Monday, August 8, 2011

Is AMD Going Into the Memory Buisness?

AMD has released Radeon-branded DDR3 modules in Canada and over in Japan.

Typically when we mention the name AMD, we're talking about processors, chipsets and GPUs. That said, it seems a little strange connecting AMD to actual DDR3 chips – even more so seeing the actual sticks being held by human hands. But they're real, and apparently already on the market in some territories.

On Saturday, images of AMD Radeon-branded DDR3 modules -- photographed in Japan -- went live, but according to reports, the memory sticks actually went on sale in Canada a few weeks ago. That means they’re not only available to OEMs, but to retail consumers as well.

AMD's website reports that the Radeon Memory will come in three flavors: the Enterprise Series, the ULTRA PRO Gaming Series, and the Entertainment Series. The Enterprise version is marked as "to be determined," but the Entertainment version will operate at 1333 MHz with timings of 9-9-9; the ULTRA PRO Gaming version will operate at 1600 MHz with timings of 11-11-11.

Otherwise, all three versions will come in 2 GB sticks and a PCB height of 30.0-mm. The package itself will be a 240-pin socket type dual in line memory module (DIMM), and will be both lead-free (RoHS compliant) and Halogen-free.

AMD Radeon DDR3 System Modules are ideally suited to our CPU and APU products," the company said. "Components are tested to the highest industry standards on AMD platforms to guarantee reliability and performance."

So far we haven't received anything official from AMD, but the chips are reportedly on sale over in Japan for around $20 USD apiece. We'll keep you posted.


Snatched from - Tomshardware