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CNET wrote:Intel and Micron today unveiled their all-new memory technology called 3D XPoint (pronounced "cross-point"). This is a new class of memory that can be used both as system memory as well as nonvolatile storage. In other words, 3D XPoint can be used to replace both a computer's RAM and its solid-state drive (SSD).

The companies claim that 3D XPoint is a major breakthrough in memory process technology, the first new memory category since the introduction of NAND flash in 1989. It's said to be extremely fast and durable, up to a thousand times faster (both in read and write speeds), and it will have higher endurance than existing NAND Flash memory currently being used in SSDs. What's more, it also has as much as 10 times greater density, leading to much more storage capacity in the same physical space, while remaining as energy efficient and affordable as existing NAND flash memory.

Mark Durcan, Micron's CEO, says the new technology is not to be confused with the 3D Flash memory used in Micron's latest SSDs, since 3D XPoint is a completely new class of memory.

According to Intel Vice President Rob Crooke, initially 3D XPoint will use PCI Express (PCIe) as its means of connecting to an existing computer, as PCIe currently has the the fastest bus speed of any peripheral interface. However, since PCIe is still not capable of handling the potential speed of 3D XPoint, in the future new ways will be developed to mount it, which will likely require entirely new motherboard architecture.
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Dies for the 3D XPoint. Intel

Clearly, with its ultrahigh performance, 3D XPoint technology will enhance the PC experience tremendously, especially in gaming, as large amounts of data can be loaded into the memory more quickly. On top of that, any applications that require low-latency storage will also benefit from 3D XPoint.

Intel says 3D XPoint results from the company's years of research and development, overcoming many hurdles including the chance that it would not be successful. 3D XPoint stores data in a totally different manner from the means used by existing NAND. It uses the property change of the memory cell itself, instead of storing the cell in a capacitor in the traditional way.

In terms of technology, 3D Xpoint memory includes the following characteristics:

Cross-point array structure: Perpendicular conductors connect 128 billion densely packed memory cells. Each memory cell stores a single bit of data. This compact structure results in high performance as well as high-density bits.
Stackable: In addition to its tight cross-point array structure, memory cells are stacked in multiple layers. The initial technology stores 128Gb per die across two memory layers. Future generations of this technology may increase the number of memory layers, in addition to traditional lithographic pitch scaling, thus further improving system capacities.
Selector: Memory cells are accessed and written or read by varying the amount of voltage sent to each selector. This eliminates the need for transistors, increasing capacity while reducing cost.
Fast-switching cell: With its small cell size, fast-switching selector, low-latency cross-point array and fast-write algorithm, the cell is able to switch states faster than any existing nonvolatile memory technology.

3D XPoint technology is now in production and will be sampled later this year with select customers. Intel and Micron are developing individual products based on the technology that are forecast to be available sometime next year.

Mr Bean wrote:1000 times faster than SSD when SSD already run into transfer limits with motherboards not being able to shove enough data down SATA pipes that PCIE slots have to be sacrificed because the SATA buses are already overwhelmed.

The piece mentions the fact it will be PCIE and that a new HD connector is required but if your promise a 1000x better performance I remain skeptical if anything better than 20%-30% gains over a five year period will be demonstrated in hardware.

Make no mistake 3D XPoint might mean we have a nice Moore Law style doubling for storage capacity and speed for a few years but if you could even give me performance x20 you'd already be talking about instantly loading multigig files, instant load video games or ten second OS boots. Take a thirty second load time make it twenty times faster your already at the under four second mark. x1000 performance I'd love to dream but even x10 performance would be the break point of where everything already loads almost instantly.

Chimaera wrote:Yeah, I can't imagine this being the industry standard for another decade or so, but it's just cool to see the start of potentially the next generation of memory.

Now, if only we could get round to cracking quantum computing...

Selector: Memory cells are accessed and written or read by varying the amount of voltage sent to each selector. This eliminates the need for transistors, increasing capacity while reducing cost.

Ace Pace wrote:Don't think about this as a replacement for SSDs or RAM. Think of this as another layer. Depending on the size of the storage pool, this can enable instant boot/hibernate, very fast storage for big data with computation requirements or very reliable embedded ROMs. What's happening in the storage space now (meaning non consumer) is not "this replaces that" but very complex hetrogenous clusters of storage where each piece of storage answers differing needs.