Gigabyte i-RAM 2 Information

Drazic

Drazic

Drazic

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The i-RAM is one of the most interesting product that Gigabyte has developed this year. Gigabyte for the first time has unveiled the specifications of their upcoming i-RAM 2 during HKEPC Tech-day. The i-RAM 2 will be using DDR2 memories instead of DDR1 and the data transfer interface is SATA 3Gb/s double of the current SATA 1.5 Gb/s. It will be externally housed with by means of an external case or fitted into the 5.25" bay with eSATA interfaces. The number of memory slots are expected to double to 8 and you can have up to 16GB max memory. The expected announcement of i-RAM 2 is targeted for February next year.
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Anyone know anyhting as i found that on hard forums from feb last year

Once in action, uber fast
 
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I bought 2 of these last year.

They are immensely quick I will give them that, but utterly useless right now as they only hold 4GB... I got 2 of them cos I thought of trying out RAID, this would let me have 8GB and be even quicker, but no, the idea went south, its not as fast as I had hoped.

The main problem wasnt the speed however, it was the ridiculous cost of having them... I mean 8GB of RAM, plus the 2 i-ram adapters cost me a grand... To have an 8GB Drive C: - Hmmm...

Anyway, the idea is a great one and maybe in future, it will be the better options, but for now, its still a gimmik that costs far too much to be worth bothering with.
 
FatRakoon said:
I bought 2 of these last year.

They are immensely quick I will give them that, but utterly useless right now as they only hold 4GB... I got 2 of them cos I thought of trying out RAID, this would let me have 8GB and be even quicker, but no, the idea went south, its not as fast as I had hoped.

The main problem wasnt the speed however, it was the ridiculous cost of having them... I mean 8GB of RAM, plus the 2 i-ram adapters cost me a grand... To have an 8GB Drive C: - Hmmm...

Anyway, the idea is a great one and maybe in future, it will be the better options, but for now, its still a gimmik that costs far too much to be worth bothering with.
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Still got it?

I know a few have had issues but thats gonna happen.

I hear the MKII is faster as use DDR2 and holds more
 
Yeah, I still got them.

I have not had any issues with mine... I think however, that the issues were down ot them not beiung able to hold the data for long without a power supply, so powering off all day for example, will mean that it will quite likely be wiped.

However, just restarting or powering off to change a bit of hardware etc wont be a worry.

I have my PCs on 24/7 so I didnt get any problems when I was using them.

Im not actually running them in anything at this time, however, I have been toying with the idea of running them in my Atari. for my D2D stuff to work alongside my SCSI drives in there, and this will be a good option... IDE on the Atari is too slow for D2D but SCSI is fine, however, the fragmentation issues I get with my SCSI drives are completely OTT... This could be a solution?
 
I thought the i-RAM would have been faster than what it actually is.

hdtach3f.png


I supose it's a constant high speed... but ... meh, doesn't get a " WOW " from me :p maybe the i-RAM 2 will.

Any haw, whens those hard drives suposed to be getting released with no moving parts? they'l be just as fast, if not faster than the i-RAM.
 
Why? What did you expect?

I expected Windows to start up in like 2 seconds, and to defrag C: in about 3 seconds etc etc etc

In truth, it was possibly twice as fast as my IDE Setup.

EDIT:
Oh right... I didnt see the HDTACH results you posted... Yeah, thats about right.

As you can see... Exactly the same BS as the "SATA is faster than IDE" boys.

You can clearly see there that it has hit a ceiling of about 130/133...
 
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I'm sure i've seen RAID setups using 7.2k RPM drives hit about 170 - 200MB/s. But then again the i-RAM has like.. no seek time.

130 MB/s tho :confused: How come it can't run at 500MB/s ? DDR1 RAM has a bandwidth of about 800 MB/s?

Gah, silly speeds!
 
NachT said:
I'm sure i've seen RAID setups using 7.2k RPM drives hit about 170 - 200MB/s. But then again the i-RAM has like.. no seek time.

130 MB/s tho :confused: How come it can't run at 500MB/s ? DDR1 RAM has a bandwidth of about 800 MB/s?

Gah, silly speeds!
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pci bus speed I think
 
NachT said:
I'm sure i've seen RAID setups using 7.2k RPM drives hit about 170 - 200MB/s. But then again the i-RAM has like.. no seek time.

130 MB/s tho :confused: How come it can't run at 500MB/s ? DDR1 RAM has a bandwidth of about 800 MB/s?

Gah, silly speeds!
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its running at the top speed the sata1 port can handle
 
Saw this one for sale around a ton. DDR :( Any news on the MKII?

Gigabyte I-RAM Rev 1.3 5.25-inch Ram box
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* Features:

o Box type without taking up PCI slot
o Fashionable bezel design
o Specifically designed for massive storage access application
o Fast data access
o Data protection after PC shutdown
o Support backup and restore software utilities
o Ideal for video/audio capture & editing, 3D graphics design, file sharing, database exchange applications and Web/Email servers
o No additional drivers required
o Noiseless solution compared to traditional hard drives
o LED indicator designed for checking status easily
o Specifically button designed for battery capacity checking

* Product Specifications:

o Convenience to use for both PC and Server
o SATA Interface:
+ SATA 1.0a Compliant
+ Supports on SATA connector
+ Up to 150MB/s data transfer rate
o Memory Interface:
+ Max amount of memory supported is 4GB
+ Four 184-Pin/2.5V DDR DIMM sockets
+ Supports DDR 266/333/400
+ Supports DIMM up to 4.2mm thickness (including heat-sink)
o Backup Battery:
+ One 1,700mAh lithium battery
o FC & CE Certificate

* System Requirements:

o One available SATA 1.5Gbps compliant connector
o 1*4pin power connector
o GIGABYTE Motherboards based on the following chipsets:
+ Intel ICH6/ICH7/ICH8/C19 series
+ VIA 8237R/8237R+/8237A
+ SIS 964
+ nVIDIA:MCP51/MCP55/MCP61/CK804

Package Include Quanity
Gigabyte I-RAM Rev 1.3 5.25-inch Ram box x 1
2*12 pin power cable x 1
User Manual x 1
Driver CD x 1
1700mAH Lithium Battery x 1
SATA Cable x 1
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http://uk.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=40065
 
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My I-RAM battery, while it works fine has 'bloated' a little and come apart at the seams literally, might post a pic if anyones interested. Keep it cool fellas! Anyone know what Gigabyte might be able to do for me here? It works fine just warped a little and i don't trust it much. Pity i hardly ever used it.
 
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