

New DDR3 memory from AMD is relatively affordable










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Time will tell
By amanojaku on 8/9/2011 10:00:02 AM , Rating: 3
Whether or not this was a good move. I agree with AMD's decision to diversify its offerings, as it simply cannot rely on CPU sales the way it used to. I think its ASIC business may actually be doing better, but with only three main lines of business AMD is in a risky position.

Mick, I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say "curious". Did you mean going into the DRAM business is curious, or silently advertising the new product is curious? I can see reasons for either.

The first is that AMD already has a semiconductor business and experience making memory. This should actually cost AMD less to operate than competitors, and add potential revenue from CPU/RAM bundles. Hell, we may even see ECC RAM for those AMD servers. This sounds like a low-risk venture, but I could be wrong.

As to the silent advertising, RAM is a competitive space. You need to save every penny, and you'll notice you don't see a lot of fanfare over new RAM like with CPUs. First of all, RAM is boring; you just need more of it, end of story. Well, you could argue about timings and such, but that doesn't seem to be as big of a deal today as back in 2000. Second, AMD probably hasn't ramped up production enough yet to provide volume. Third, this may not be successful, so why spend millions in advertising? Whatever doesn't sell will likely end up in a video card or some other device, covering most of the losses.

RE: Time will tell
By paydirt on 8/9/2011 11:07:53 AM , Rating: 3
I don't think this is an AMD product, I suspect this is a Global Foundries product. Global Foundries is the former manufacturing arm of AMD that was spun off in what 2008/2009 (?). I'm guessing that Global Foundries wants to run their factories closer to capacity and that is the main reason for the product.

RE: Time will tell
By ilt24 on 8/9/2011 11:15:47 AM , Rating: 3

AMD isn't making the memory chips. They are branding memory made by another manufacturer, something they have done with GPU memory for years. I don't see how it will cost them any less than Crucial, Corsair, GSkill or Kingston to produce their sticks.

RE: Time will tell
By chiadog on 8/9/2011 11:51:47 PM , Rating: 2
Why would they bother to stamp the AMD logo on package if they're simply rebranding?

RE: Time will tell
By Taft12 on 8/10/2011 9:10:47 PM , Rating: 2
Why not? In the marketing game, may as well get your name on everything!

RE: Time will tell
By someguy123 on 8/9/2011 5:57:06 PM , Rating: 2
It's likely that they're allocating RAM to match with their llano and future APU chips.

Their APU chips can be heavily constrained by RAM. I'm sure they'll start advertising "radeon gaming RAM" as necessary for APU performance, and they'll likely begin shipping high speed options to OEMs for cheaper/at cost while bundled with Llano to ensure decent performance.

