One of the most revolutionary technologies yet, it should enter the market by year's end

Aug 1, 2014 14:25 GMT  ·  By

DDR3 memory and NAND Flash storage technology don't really mix well because they work too differently and don't exactly share the same interface technologies.

Apacer has decided to throw a curveball though. You might remember that, back in early June, the company released a DDR3 memory module with an integrated M.2 SSD.

Well, it wasn't a hoax. Apacer is truly determined to market this type of hybrid storage/memory device. In fact, the new “R&D design that integrates SSD (Solid State Drive) and DRAM on the DRAM Module” is shipping.

Not to consumers, since Apacer still has some tests to conclude and firmware refinements to implement. It is sampling though.

There doesn't seem to be any direct collaboration between the DDR3 and SSD parts. It seems to be more of a means to reduce physical footprint (make memory and storage fit in less space, good for embedded and industrial systems).

The SSD gets its energy from the DDR3 slot, but connects via the new M.2 interface located at the top of the very low profile module (7.8 mm in height, 6 Gbps speed), while the RAM does its job normally.

There are Apacer Combo SDIMMs with standard M.2 SSD parts (up to 256 GB) and some that use CompactFlash cards instead (up to 128 GB). The latter can be changed if needed.