SanDisk is disclosing at a San Francisco technology conference Tuesday that it will begin mass production of memory chips that will allow consumers to store up to 64GB of data on tiny flash cards.
SanDisk X4 memory chip packs in four bits per cell
(Credit: SanDisk)The Milpitas, Calif., company's X4 technology will pack four bits of data into each memory cell. To date, flash memory chipmakers typically stored one bit or two bits per cell.
SanDisk--the largest supplier of retail flash cards--is making the disclosure jointly with Toshiba at the 2009 International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC). The two companies will use 43-nanometer manufacturing process technology to make the chips.
X4 technology, which SanDisk got when it purchased M-Systems in 2006, will yield tiny Secure Digital (SD) flash cards that hold 64GB of data. Currently, mainstream SanDisk SD cards top out at 16GB, though pricey 32GB cards are also on the market.
"It is a 64-gigabit single die (chip), which is 8GB (per die), the highest capacity point in the industry," said Khandker Quader, senior vice president, memory technology & product development, SanDisk, in a phone interview Monday.
In addition to the memory chip, the die also includes an X4 controller--which manages the data flow. The memory and controller "will be sold as an integrated solution," Quader said. Controllers are the secret sauce used by flash card and solid-state drive suppliers to boost performance. The importance of controllers increases as flash chip densities increase because higher densities require increasingly sophisticated controllers to deliver the necessary performance.
The memory technology itself--the 4 bits per cell 64-gigabit memory--is co-developed and co-owned by SanDisk and Toshiba. The X4 controller technology is solely owned by SanDisk, Quader said. SanDisk and Toshiba also have joint manufacturing facilities in Japan.
The advancement is important because NAND flash--like all silicon chasing Moore's Law--is facing challenges to increase densities "even at two bits and three bits per cell," he said. (NAND is the type of memory used in flash cards and solid-state drives.)
A SanDisk paper at the ISSCC will discuss the performance of the X4 technology. Data speeds will hit 7.8 megabytes per second, Quader said. "This is comparable to what others are producing at lower bits per cell," he said.
X4 flash cards will be available commercially in the first half of 2009, according to Quader.
SanDisk will also present a paper on 32-nanometer X3 technology--three bits per cell--for use in thumbnail-size microSD cards (even smaller than SD cards) that boast capacities up to 16GB. X3 will also be used in solid-state drives, SanDisk said.
Despite these advancements, SanDisk is still a laggard in the emerging solid-state drive market, where companies like Samsung, Toshiba, Micron Technology, and Intel are the early leaders. SanDisk announced at CES in January that it would deliver a 240GB SSD by mid-year.
Updated on February 9 at 12:10 a.m. PST with corrected Intel pricing.
Advanced Micro Devices added new Phenom II desktop models on Monday, including triple-core processors, in its continued attempt to outdo Intel desktop price-performance.
The Phenom II "Dragon" line of desktop processors uses AMD's new 45-nanometer technology and comprises both quad-core (X4) and triple-core (X3) parts.
The triple-core Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition processor is priced at $145, which AMD compares with Intel's Core 2 Duo (dual-core) E8400 processor, priced at $163. The quad-core X4 810 processor (2.6GHz) is priced at $175 versus the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor (2.33GHz), priced at $163.
The Phenom II processors fit in either AM2+ or AM3 sockets and support DDR2 or next generation DDR3 memory technology.
Models include:
- AMD Phenom II X4 910 - (2.6GHz)
- AMD Phenom II X4 810 - (2.6GHz)
- AMD Phenom II X4 805 - (2.5GHz)
- AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition - (2.8GHz)
- AMD Phenom II X3 710 - (2.6GHz)
The processors are available immediately, AMD said.
Update: Circuit board makers using Advanced Micro Devices' high-end quad-core Phenom chips claim that there are compatibility issues with select boards. This comes as the chipmaker struggles to churn out processors that are competitive with Intel's offerings.
AMD quad-core Phenom X4
(Credit: AMD)This issue was reported Monday at the Web site HKEPC.
AMD confirmed Monday that some motherboard suppliers are mismatching high-end quad-core Phenom processors with a lower-end chipset. (The motherboard is the main circuit board in a PC. The chipset allows the processor to interact with other components, among other functions.)
"What people have done, mistakenly, is paired a 780G (chipset-based) motherboard with the higher frequency Phenom--the 125-watt Phenom," said Jake Whitman, an AMD spokesperson.
Whitman is referring to the fact that the high-end 9750 and 9850 Phenom processors have a Thermal Design Power (TDP or thermal envelope) of 125 watts versus the lower-end 9600 and 9550 models that have a TDP of 95 watts. The higher-watt parts will not work with motherboards that contain the 780G chipset. The lower-end models do not have these TDP issues.
"They've taken an enthusiast-class quad-core part and paired it with a mainstream motherboard," Whitman said. "And not all motherboard manufacturers have tweaked their boards to support a 125-watt TDP." Whitman says that AMD's 790 chipset--not the 780--should be paired with the 9750 and 9850 processors and that a number of motherboard makers are already doing this.
"We've never made claims that 780G motherboards are enthusiast-class motherboards," Whitman said.
The inability to use high-end quad-core AMD processors on some motherboards may be symptomatic of a larger challenge. AMD is finding it difficult to compete head-on with Intel quad-core offerings in the consumer segment. Hewlett-Packard and Gateway, for instance, offer desktops with only the lower-performance Phenom chips, such as the 9100e (1.8GHz) and 9600 (2.3GHz). Neither HP nor Gateway offer desktops with higher-performance 9750 (2.4GHz) or 9850 (2.5GHz) Phenoms.
Meanwhile, Intel-based systems from these companies--though usually more expensive--come with quad-core chips ranging up to a 2.83GHz Q9550.
Whitman says there's a reason for this. First-tier PC makers "are not necessarily interested in building the fastest AMD-based quad-core systems, but are more interested in price." He expects wider adoption of the high-end Phenom chips with system builders and game-enthusiast PC makers.
In related news reported by CNET News.com on Monday, supercomputer maker Cray said it would adopt Intel quad-core processor designs for its supercomputers. Though Cray says it will continue to offer configurations with AMD chips too, the move by Cray is seen as an endorsement of Intel multicore designs. Before this announcement, Cray had been using AMD processors only.
Advanced Micro Devices officially announced on Wednesday an updated Phenom chip line amid severe price pressure from Intel.
As expected, AMD has updated its triple-core Phenom X3 processors with the "50" series. The 8450, 8650, and 8750 models will replace and supplement the current 8400 and 8600. The newer models contain a fix for an extremely rare "TLB" bug.
The Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz) processor is priced at $195, the 8650 (2.3GHz) at $165, and the 8450 (2.1GHz) at $145.
AMD also announced a low-power quad-core Phenom X4 9100e processor that has a Thermal Design Power (TDP) or thermal envelope of 65 watts, compared with the 95 watts of standard X4 processors.
AMD Phenom processors with the new X3 models in bold.
(Credit: AMD)
AMD is looking to bundle the Phenom X3 chips with its 780 graphics silicon in low-cost gaming PCs. Hewlett-Packard and Gateway are currently using Nvidia graphics in their consumer boxes that use Phenom X3 chips.
According to AMD, the X3 platform offers the best balance of processor and graphics: "On one side, we have Nvidia saying that the only thing that matters is graphics. On the other side, Intel is saying that the only thing that matters is the processor. (AMD offers) a balanced platform that doesn't overemphasize one really expensive component over another really expensive component," said Brent Berry, product marketing manager for AMD.
But things may have just gotten a lot tougher for the No. 2 processor maker in the higher-end quad-core segment. Intel on Sunday cut prices on quad-core processors by up to 50 percent, undermining--or in some cases eliminating--AMD's price advantage.
"This product cycle is already discounted," said Ashok Kumar, an analyst at CRT Capital Group. "This puts additional pressure on AMD."
Intel's price cuts brought its quad-core Q6700 (2.66GHz) down from $530 to $266 and its Q6600 (2.4GHz) from $266 to $224. The latter is now priced below AMD's top-line quad-core Phenom 9850 (2.5GHz), which is listed at $235.
"With a 16 percent price cut, the Q6600 is now undoubtedly the processor of preference for a budget quad-core system," review site Hexus said.
On Monday, Hewlett-Packard's Japan arm introduced a raft of consumer PCs with plenty of offerings using processors from Advanced Micro Devices in addition to Intel chips.
In the v7000 small-form-factor tower series, HP deployed both the AMD triple-core Phenom X3 processor and quad-core Phenom X4 processors. Models are available with the X3 8400 (2.1GHz), low-power X4 9100e (1.8GHz, 65 watts), and X4 9500 (2.2GHz).
HP tx2105 ultraportable notebook (top) and HP s3000 and v7000 series desktops (bottom)
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)Interestingly, AMD-based models in the v7000 series come with Nvidia graphics, not AMD-ATI graphics, a synergy that AMD has had trouble realizing in some segments. Configurations are offered with either the NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE, GeForce 8400HD, or GeForce 8500GT graphics chips.
Phenom X3-based systems start at around 69,930 yen or just under $700.
The 4.3-pound TX 2105/CT ultraportable notebook uses a dual-core Athlon 64 X2 TK-57 processor. Another model comes with the AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 processor. All models pack NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 graphics. Pricing starts at just over $900.
Intel-based HP notebooks were introduced with an array of processors including new 45-nanometer Core 2 Duo T8100 and T9300 processors as well as Celeron 540/560 series chips. But no AMD-ATI graphics here either. Systems come with one of the following: Intel X3100, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, or NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS graphics.
Intel-based desktop systems come with dual-core Core 2 Duo E8400 and quad-core Core 2 Quad Q9300 processors, among other configurations. Graphics chips offered are the NVIDIA GeForce 8400HD and NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT.
AMD Phenom X3 logo
(Credit: AMD)Advanced Micro Devices will refresh its triple-core X3 processor lineup with versions that fix an outstanding bug. A number of online resellers already list the upcoming processors.
Currently, AMD offers the X3 8400, 8600, and 8700. These are so-called "B2" versions of the processor that contain an extremely rare "TLB" bug. AMD will update this series with a B3 version that fixes the bug in silicon.
A number of resellers already list the Phenom X3 processors as the 8450, 8650, and 8750. The "50" suffix indicates that the bug fix is integrated into the chip.
Though pricing may change, on Friday afternoon, TheNerds.net listed more than 1,000 Phenom X3 8750 (2.4GHz) processors in stock at a price of $218.99. Newegg listed the same processor at $195.
Consumer systems from Hewlett-Packard and Gateway that use the Phenom X3 8400 are on the market today. These desktops are available at Best Buy for as little as $550.
The Phenom X3, when paired with the 780 series chipset, can provide a "full HD experience" and, with the AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD), can process HD playback on the graphics processing unit (GPU) rather than the CPU, AMD said.
During AMD's first-quarter earnings conference call, AMD chief financial officer, Robert J. Rivet, said that the B3 version of the triple-core Phenom should contribute to AMD's bottom line in the second quarter. Rivet said he expects improvement as AMD continues "to increase the lineup of Phenoms available. (The) quad-core architecture that we also use for triple-core will have good benefit right away," he said.
He also noted that AMD's processor and graphics lineup is consumer-centric. "The wild card issue is the environment we're in...in the consumer space, which is the world we play in mostly."
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