Intel on track to deliver 3D XPoint dimms in H2 2018

Intel plans to launch dimms based on its 3D XPoint memory in the second half of 2018. The dimms should be an alternative to dram memory for data centers, with higher capacities at a lower price per GB.

Navin Shenoy, vice president of Intel’s Data Center Group, provided the update on the availability of 3D XPoint dimms during a presentation at the UBS Global Technology Conference. The manufacturer focuses on use for big data analytics, in-memory datases, virtual machines, high performance computing and training artificial intelligence. With the dimms, Intel expects to be able to tap into a market worth 8 billion dollars by 2021. Intel is increasingly focusing on the growing data center market and less on the PC market.

The 3D XPoint memory should be an alternative to the faster dram in dimm form. However, Dram memory is expensive, according to Intel, and since 3D XPoint allows for larger amounts of memory on the dimm form factor, that would be a more attractive option. Moreover, unlike dram, the memory does not require any power to store its data. In combination with 3D XPoint, only a small amount of dram would be needed to boot, for example. Several weeks ago, according to Shenoy, Oracle demonstrated a 3TB database running entirely in 3D XPoint memory. In addition to Oracle, Microsoft, SAP and VMWare support the 3D XPoint dimms.

Intel has high hopes for memory technology. This year, cache accelerators and SSDs based on the phase-change technology appeared under the Optane name, and more products should be released in the coming years. Intel and Micron’s memory joint venture IMFlash is to open its Utah factory to expand to ramp up production of 3D XPoint chips. Unlike Intel, Micron is not yet fully committed to 3D XPoint: the company announced this week nvdimm-n of 32GB based on DDR4 memory and a nand-flash module. Nvdimm-n is a form of persistent memory that is in part competitive with 3D XPoint.