Replies to post #10793 on Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[sgolds]

wbmw, Coatue claims that their polymer memory runs at DRAM speeds. Now what does that mean? PC-3200 or PC-100? I do not know. However, the speculation is that it will run at speeds which make it practical as a DRAM replacement. (I've seen numbers for MRAM which promise that they will run competitively with SRAM, but I do not know if I should believe them.)

My impression is that these alternative memories may reach DRAM replacement speeds before density and cost makes them a reasonable hard disk replacement.

We may first see an in-between implementation: If they are indeed lower cost & higher density than flash, they may be used for 'instant on' machines which copy the memory resident image from polymer to DRAM. I tend to think they will not replace existing memories overnight, but like all new technology will be implemented in stages.

[j3pflynn]

No, wbmw, I think you're mistaken here. That's Coatue's whole point. Their polymer memory is fast and cheap, so it can take the place of both system memory, and to some extent storage, depending on how much is needed, of course. I haven't heard yet how far it's likely to scale in terms of capacity.