Posted on Tuesday, June 18 2013 @ 13:21 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
EE Times
reports Intel revealed details of its new embedded DRAM technology at the VLSI Symposium. By embedding memory onto the processor, the chip giant expects to significantly improve the performance of its integrated graphics solutions for use in high-end notebooks and servers, while also lowering the total system power consumption:
Using its eDRAM technology, Intel built a discrete 128 Mbyte L4 cache chip with a 100 microsecond retention time at a worst case 95 degrees C. It will fit in a Haswell package linking to the CPU die via a 100 Gbyte/second point-to-point link, adding about 3W to the component.
The technology reaches “part of the design space you can’t hit with commodity DRAM,” such as GDDR-5 chips that would offer half the bandwidth and consume more power, said David Kanter, microprocessor analyst for Real World Tech.
OEMs including Apple are expected to use in their top-end notebooks the Haswell eDRAM module at about 45W to save space and power while sacrificing little performance. It will replace a combo of discrete graphics chips dissipating about 40W and existing processors drawing 30W.
