14 DAY TRIAL // For those users that require vast amount of RAM memory in their servers and workstation PCs, DIMM slot count could prove to be a real problem, but fortunately future Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer CPUs should come with full support for LR-DIMM sticks, making high capacity memory modules more affordable.
Although most of you haven't heard about LR-DIMM until now, this technology is out for a while and allows manufacturers to build higher capacity DDR3 sticks by using more memory chips together, something that wasn't possible before since the memory controller, usually found inside the CPU, had a tough time accessing all the chips.
In order to achieve this feat, LR-DIMM memory makes use of a buffer that sits between the memory controller and the memory chips, and effectively hides the chips from the controller.
As a result a stick that features 32 1Gb chips will actually be seen by the controller as 8 by 4Gb chips memory module, allowing for greater capacity modules to be built.
Unfortunately, this approach does have some downsides as using a buffer will actually impact memory performance, latency primarily, while also requiring a more complex design.
This usually translates into higher built costs, although these could still prove to be a lot cheaper than using high capacity memory chips.
However, this remains to be seen once the very first LR-DIMM solutions will reach the market.
But the best part about this type of memories is the fact that, according to SemiAccurate, these should be supported by the next generation of AMD and Intel CPUs.
Although probably support will be limited to server processors (Xeon and Opteron lines), both Sandy Bridge CPUs and Bulldozer-based processors will come with full support for this type of memory modules, a company called Inphi already showcasing such LR-DIMM solutions during IDF using an Intel Nehalem-EP processor.