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#stack#intel#https#memory#dram#zam#better#com#article#hbm

Discussion (18 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

plufz•28 minutes ago
Where is the music video for us who only want to learn about low level hardware through that medium?

Get perpendicular: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x62mja

port11•3 minutes ago
Off-topic, but 574 analytics and advertising partners is a few too many. Like… can you make money with just 200 ad partners?
nxobject•about 2 hours ago
But will this go the way of a “non core” product like Optane (or modems for that matter?)
nine_k•about 3 hours ago
The article says nothing about the construction or special qualities of ZAM, as compared to HBM :(
ThrowawayR2•about 3 hours ago
There doesn't seem to be much detail anywhere else either. All I was able to gather was that the memory dies are stacked (not new) but that the vias connecting the stack are angled instead of straight up and down and this is better because ... reasons?
jacknews•about 3 hours ago
Indeed, what is it? The article doesn't say, only espouses the supposed benefits.
p_ing•about 3 hours ago
Looks like an evolution of HBM.

https://wccftech.com/intel-showcases-its-zam-memory-prototyp...

nine_k•about 2 hours ago
«[T]he primary standout feature of this memory solution is the integration of a staggered interconnect topology that routes connections diagonally within the die stack rather than drilling straight down. According to Intel, the biggest benefit lies in ZAM's thermal capabilities.»

The connectors on the side indeed look like the letter Z. Maybe it disperses the stronger currents across the stack of the crystals, instead of concentrating.

rayiner•about 3 hours ago
It’s crazy that we have stalled on the structure of the basic DRAM cell for decades now.
cogman10•about 2 hours ago
Not that crazy. It's about the most basic structure you can make. Hard to make a better wheel.

The closest thing I can think of that's come close to maybe challenging DRAM is HP's memristors but those really didn't pan out (probably too much power consumption).

yvdriess•10 minutes ago
> Hard to make a better wheel.

Pet peeve: stupid analogy seeing how wheels kept being improved throughout the millennia with every new technology. The only thing in common is that it's round.

Similarly, DRAM in any way you see it has been improving to the point of barely being recognizable since the 70s.

That said, DIMMs and the whole bus idea is in dire need of getting a new type of bearing.

gavmor•39 minutes ago
You're right—the wheels on the Boeing 737 are, although made of forged aluminum or magnesium to withstand extreme force and heat, pretty much the same shape and operate in the same way as the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel of 3150 BCE.

Then again, flight itself has obviated—or, rather, introduced—many transit workloads that could be performed by wheeled vehicles, and operates on different principles entirely.

jauntywundrkind•about 2 hours ago
This wccf article also doesn't do a great job of describing, but the third slide it shows is very illustrative: rather than stack horizontally it stacks dram on its side. https://wccftech.com/intel-zam-memory-threatens-hbms-ai-thro...

I thought this was going to mean each stack was able to directly talk to the controller, since all stacks are resting on an interposer thing. But actually there is still a logic controller slice at the bottom of the stack, not at a right angle to the stack.

Instead of HBM microbumps between layers there is a more compact/dense TSV ("fusion bonded via-in-one") system. Intel once more showing their strong chiplet packing prowess! The claim is that thermals are still much better somehow, in spite of volumetric cell density increasing (from thinner layers). The demo has 8+1 dram+controller layers.

lysace•about 1 hour ago
Intel does these "throw spaghetti on the wall" kind of investments into potientially interesting companies/technologies all of the time - and have done so for decades.

Every time the recipient hypes the shit out of it, of course.

JoshTriplett•32 minutes ago
The main problem is that they often don't stick with it.

As far as I can tell, Intel more-or-less pioneered the idea of SSDs being the best storage rather than the cheap storage, for instance. The X25-M and X25-E were absurdly good. Then, once the market was established...they pulled out of it.

lysace•21 minutes ago
An extreme and related example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opticom_(company)

Popular science kind of backgrounder (can't vouch for the accuracy/relevancy - details are very scarce): https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/digital-logic/polymer-memory/

behaviors•37 minutes ago
Most of the big hit's in tech had a trendy index swinging moment, Intel has been searching for one for a long time since AMD64 undercut the Itanium. Hype drives a currently multi-billion dollar bubble. It's not always a bad idea to throw our holy noodles at the wall. You might find they hover is the sky and grow meatballs, could be big.