Hardware

Fortunately for consumers, the price has

decreased precipitously in the last four years,
dropping from more than $25 per megabyte in Species Of DRAM
1995 to a little more than $1 per megabyte in ver the years, memory manufacturers developed several types of DRAM (dynamic RAM)
2001. The reason for the steep price cut is sim-
ple: overproduction. Prior to 1995, memory
O to keep up with the demand for faster computing speed.

manufacturers could not keep up with demand.

The price of RAM went up, the cost of produc-
FPM DRAM (fast page mode DRAM)—FPM DRAM, which is also
tion went down, and memory manufacturers
called FPM RAM, supports typical data transfer speeds between
made healthy profits. This caused a reaction in
80ns and 100ns (nanoseconds; a billionth of a second). FPM DRAM
the industry. In 1995, several companies built allows the CPU (central processing unit) to retrieve related bits of

28.5MHz
new fabs (laboratories where memory chips are data from a single column in the array, without making individual
manufactured) to capitalize on the lucrative requests for each bit.
memory market. The average fab costs $2.5 bil-
lion to build and lasts about three or four years
before its technology becomes obsolete. EDO DRAM (extended data output DRAM)—EDO DRAM, which is
Consequently, a memory manufacturer has to also called EDO RAM, operates approximately 10% faster than FPM
sell a lot of memory fast to recover its costs. DRAM. It’s different from DRAM because it “extends the output,”

40MHz
That’s an easy thing to do when demand and allowing the processor to begin the process of retrieving a second
prices are high. But it’s not so easy when the bit of data as soon as the first bit has been sent on its way.
market is saturated, as it was after all the fabs
began production in 1995. Suddenly, the supply BEDO DRAM (burst EDO DRAM)—BEDO DRAM is a modification of
of memory far exceeded the demand, and the EDO DRAM. Instead of transferring data at a constant rate of speed,
price of memory plummeted. The manufactur- BEDO DRAM adds an occasional burst of high-speed data transfer.
ers, who had invested enormous amounts of Think of it like two runners on a track. Both run at a constant speed of
capital in the fabs, had no choice but to produce six miles per hour, except that the second runner increases his pace to
66MHz

even more memory chips to make up for low 10 miles per hour on the backstretch of each lap. The second runner
prices. This saturated the market even more. As will finish ahead of the first runner because of these bursts of speed.
a result, the cost per megabyte of memory
dropped more than 90% in the two-year period SDRAM (synchronous DRAM)—SDRAM represents a leap in DRAM
between 1995 and 1997. technology. This species of DRAM synchronizes itself to the CPU’s clock
(a mechanism that resides in the CPU and generates a series of elec-
133MHz

■ Future’s So Bright . . . Since 1997, the tronic pulses, called cycles, that pace the entire system), like a musician
price of memory has stabilized, and today, the pacing himself by a metronome. By falling into the same rhythm as the
future looks good. Systems will continue to CPU clock, SDRAM can operate faster and more efficiently.
come equipped with ever-greater amounts of
DRAM. Prices for memory should remain stable DDR SDRAM (double-data-rate SDRAM)—DDR SDRAM, which is
as demand remains high. And new memory sometimes referred to as SDRAM II, is a faster version of SDRAM.
266MHz

technologies, particularly DRDRAM and DDR It’s faster because it lets two bits of data per cycle transmit between
SDRAM, should eliminate the gap between memory and the CPU.
processor and memory speed.
In the not-too-distant future, system memo-
RDRAM (Rambus DRAM)—RDRAM takes its name from the
ry will make the big leap to the CPU. That’s
company that developed and produces it: Rambus Inc. RDRAM
right, all memory eventually will be built into uses a propriety technology that widens the data channels coming
600MHz

the CPU. This will eliminate concerns about into and out of memory. These wider channels are capable of
speed because the data-transfer rate (in this carrying more data than previous DRAM species could carry.
case, the time it takes data to travel between the
CPU and RAM) will decrease from today’s
average of 10ns to 30ns (nanoseconds; a bil-
lionth of a second) to almost zero nanoseconds.
DRDRAM (Direct Rambus DRAM)—DRDRAM is simply an
It may take three years, five years, or 10 years improved version of RDRAM, with even wider data channels that
before this becomes a reality. But at some point,
800MHz

can carry more data between memory and the CPU.

those memory modules in your PC will be his-
tory, and we’ll have to write a new article to
tell you how memory works. RS

by Jeff Dodd