Topic: 3D XPoint transistorless non-volatile memory

[Cobra951]

Has anyone been following this?  I've been meaning to mention this eye-opening stuff since I came across it a couple of months ago.  It promises to revolutionize everything from solid-state storage (like SSDs and USB memory sticks) to the design of processors.  I haven't heard any more about it since.  I hope it all comes to fruition.


So apparently, this magical-seeming design does away with the need for transistors for storage.  The material itself holds the data, and it's arranged in a 3D "checkerboard" matrix.  Wherever 2 (or 3?) lines intersect, you have a data bit (I think).  Claimed to have 1000 times the speed and durability of NAND memory and 8-10 times the density of DRAM.  Too good to be true (or true in practice)?

[Quemaqua]

Wow, that sounds incredible. I wonder what will come of it. I hadn't heard about it, but I really don't keep up on tech advances these days until they actually happen at a consumer level (or at least become of more immediate interest to consumer sectors). Don't have enough time. I'm assuming this is still really far away from practical application of any sort that would be relevant to me; or at least I hope so, since I'm gearing up to buy a new computer in the near future. If it were only going to be a year or two before some sort of major architecture change, I might have to hold off.

[Cobra951]

My guess is that even if consumer applications are possible, they'll take a while before they change fundamental designs.  We'd be more likely to see direct replacements for components, such as hard drives.  That wouldn't spoil any plans to get a computer soon.

Let us know how that goes.  I always like to hear about the gear, even if I've been staying away from new PC hardware.

[Quemaqua]

This PC is, I think, somewhere in the vicinity of 8 years old (the first review of the CPU—an AMD Athlon X2 4400+—that I can find on Newegg is from July of 2005). The fact that it does anything at all is remarkable. I guess the money I put into future-proofing it was well worth it. I have no idea what I'm going to do ... I can't actually afford a new system, but I need one badly. This thing is showing troublesome signs that it isn't going to last too much longer, even just in terms of remaining viable usability-wise, potential hardware failures aside. I'm supposed to be getting a little money soon from something else, so I'm hoping I'll have enough to not worry and just be able to build a good, solid, quality rig that will stand up to another long period of use. I'm really looking forward to it. I love this system, and I will hate to see it go, as it has treated me better than well during its lifetime (I even played Skyrim on this thing), but it will be wonderful to get to a point where I can stop worrying about resources and hitching and memory leaks and such.

[idolminds]

So probably not a great system, but I found a really cheap barebones system with a mail in rebate that essentially makes it $40. Specs aren't too far off my system but obviously you'd want to swap in a bigger HDD and videocard. But as a cheap temporary solution it might work ok. My dad needs a new PC again so I think I might have him get one of these. Luckily he doesnt need games to run on it, haha.

[Cobra951]

So, while 3D Xpoint is still coming (supposedly by year's end) in the form of SSDs branded "Optane", 3D NAND SSDs are reality as of right now, with the best performing ones coming on a PCIe card--bypass the SATA bottleneck altogether.  How about multiple terabytes of solid-state storage on your PC's bus?  Physical drives reportedly are not getting much bigger any time soon.  (Bye bye, Kryder's Law?)  I guess that opens the door for solid state to catch up somewhat, with the new technologies expanding storage cells into the 3rd dimension.  I can't wait.  Spinning platters are so 1960s.

[Cobra951]

Intel Optane DC P4800X SSD & Consumer 3D Crosspoint

Reality, finally, but still at the enterprise (read "expensive") level.  Consumer level on the horizon.

Edit:  Much better video on the Optane drive & tech

[scottws]

Oh, so this is actually happening?  I thought this was going to another memristor.

[scottws]

Looks like it's here!

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/03/intels-first-optane-ssd-for-regular-pcs-is-a-small-but-has-super-fast-cache/

[Cobra951]

Disappointing tack they're taking toward the consumer.  First, the tech is poised only as a 16-32GB cache for large NAND SSDs, and second, you need Kaby Lake or better to use it.  So if you bought the newest Intel CPUs available in December, you're SOL the following March.  It's a crock of shit, to say the least, and right in line with the Microsoft dick move cutting off older CPUs from Windows 10 updates.