Samsung developed 50-nanometer DDR-DRAM

Samsung Electronics has successfully developed the world's first 50 nanometer DDR2 DRAM chip, an important achievement amid PC vendors "catching up" to prepare for Windows Vista.

Although 50nm technology will not be mass produced by Samsung before 2008, the event shows that chip makers are also actively preparing for the "transition" to Vista.

Research firm Gartner predicts that users will switch to using Vista "slowly", and the memory chip is the deciding factor in this process, from both consumers and PC makers.

"Operating system is thirsty for memory"

DRAM market is fevering before Windows Vista is released.Source: Sijapan

Microsoft has released two sets of technical guides for the new Vista operating system for PC vendors. Any system with 512 MB DRAM will have a Windows Vista Capable PC logo attached, while 1GB systems will be stuck with the Windows Vista Premium Ready logo.

In two systems, Windows Vista Premium Ready, according to Microsoft, will bring "unprecedented" experiences to users, including real-time thumbnail preview, 3D task conversion .

With DRAM having at least 512 MB capacity to be classified as compatible with Vista, computer companies have moved to add more memory for upcoming products.

" Most" Vista-Ready "computers will have DDR2 of 1GB capacity, while consumer PCs are 2GB, " said Ben Tseng, vice president of Taiwan's DRAM ProMOS Technologies. The race to increase DRAM capacity among firms will push the average DRAM on each computer to 900MB in the fourth quarter of this year.

Fluttering of DRAM capability?

Obviously DRAM is a key component in Vista application. If users dump large-scale Vista computers, it is likely that the large-capacity DRAM market will not be able to accommodate.

For many years, memory chip companies have mostly focused on producing NAND flash memory (which is very popular due to the high demand for iPods, digital cameras, camcorder . ) forgot about DRAM.

Only when the price of DDR2 continuously increased in recent months, did they start to "startle" to look back. Anyway, it was late, because it was usually a new DRAM factory that took at least a year, plus billions of dollars.

The best way to increase chip output without having to build a new factory is to shrink Samsung's manufacturing technology, like 50nm. Each nanometer is one billionth of a meter and this term describes the size of the smallest part on the chip.

In general, the smaller the chip, the more production is produced each month. That is not to mention the speed and power saving capability of the chip are all enhanced.

Samsung said 50nm technology will increase its productivity by 55% compared to current 60nm manufacturing technology. Besides, the cost of chip production is also significant. Most DRAM manufacturers are currently using 90nm technology.

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