IBM doubles processor performance with DRAM memory

Adam Turner
Thursday, 15 February 2007 07:02

Your IT - Home IT

Double the processing power and triple the memory is the promise of IBM's move to build dynamic RAM into its processors.

As of next year IBM will use DRAM for the onboard cache of its 45-nanometer microprocessor line, announced IBM at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.

This new technology, designed using IBM’s Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) for high-performance at low power, vastly improves microprocessor performance in multi-core designs and speeds the movement of graphics in gaming, networking, and other image intensive, multi-media applications.

By adding DRAM to the processor rather than on a separate chip, IBM hopes to clear one of the key bottlenecks standing in the way of more powerful chips. IBM's eDRAM is now almost as fast as static RAM, but only takes up one-third the space on the chip and consumes one-fifth the standby power.