14 DAY TRIAL // Corsair has just finished the design of its upcoming memories and will introduce the Fully Buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) memory DDR2 @ 667MHz speed. The memory is designed to work with INTEL Xeon CPUs and will provide sufficient bandwidth even for Cloverton quad core CPUs matching their 1333 FSB at default speeds. The new sticks will come in 2GB forms only and are rumored to be quite expensive. But I guess that's not much of a problem for someone who is trying to build a 2-way Cloverton-based system. Of course the sticks will be fully buffered. In case "fully buffered" doesn't sound right to you, keep on reading.
The FB-DIMM memory architecture allows two channels to perform read and write operations at the same time by using a specially designed memory controller. It also provide simplified interconnections and is designed to deliver a significantly bigger memory bandwidth with up to six memory channels containing a maximum of eight dual run memory modules per channel. That translates into lots of slots for memory upgrades but it also mean you can run anything from 8GB to 128GB of ram per machine depending on the motherboard.
Corsair FB-DIMM uses the standard 240 pin design and is Buffered Dual Inline Memory Module with Ultra high density (uses the new released 512 MBit SDRAM chips). It supports CRC and ECC error detection and correction, Advanced Memory Buffer (AMB), four-bit prefetch architecture and JEDEC standard 1.5V high speed differential point-to-point link. Add that to the already supported Off-chip driver (OCD) impedance calibration and On-die termination (ODT) protocols and you'll understand that these memory sticks come with a lot of technologies. And they also fit in 1U rack mount servers because they are only 1.2" tall. The modules come with standard lifetime warranty. As for the price, it is unknown at the moment.