14 DAY TRIAL // DDR4 memory technology is finally available for the masses, or at least customers on the server front and that of high-performance workstations. Virtium wants to make sure that its name goes down in history as one of the first to release 16 GB modules.
You'll be hard-pressed to find DDR4 modules of 16 GB on the consumer market, since the DIMM form factor doesn't support that space yet. Only 8 GB, for now.
However, the UDIMM and RDIMM module types can already pack sufficient chips to enable that capacity.
Knowing this, Virtium has formally launched DDR4 random access memory of up to 16 GB per slot, and it managed to make them very small as well.
VLP (very low profile) is very useful, you see, in blade servers, since those types of modular computers have sections that are very thin. You may also know VLP and ULP (ultra low profile).
The Virtium DDR4 VLP UDIMM and VLP RDIMM memory modules
Available in x8 and x4 configurations, the newcomers have data transfer of 2,133 MT/s, or frequencies of 2,33 MHz.
That means they are, at their weakest, better than some of the most overclocked DDR3 modules out there. Add to that the double bandwidth and you have a much higher performance level than before.
More importantly, the new DDR4 modules from Virtium work on 1.2V, which is less than even the lowest voltage specification of DDR3, which happens to be 1.35V.
For the sake of perspective, DDR3 normally operates at 1.5V, but there are some modules/kits that need 1.65V as well.
All in all, the new memory will give servers, data centers and workstations around double the performance, or at least twice the bandwidth, while saving 40% on energy costs.
Keep in mind, though, that while ULP, VLP and standard height UDIMM can be found in 4 and 8 gigabyte forms (GB), only the ULP, VLP and standard height RDIMM reach 16 GB density.
Availability and pricing
The prices weren't actually mentioned anywhere, mostly because they're subject to customer order and haggling skills. However, the new products are already available, so companies can start to place calls with Virtium to get some.
All Virtium DDR4 RDIMM and UDIMM modules benefit from ECC (error correcting code) and have a warranty of five years, each. Meaning that they should serve you well enough until you need to perform another general upgrade / mainframe migration, more or less.