IRam Boosts Windows Boot
Giga-byte Technology, the Taiwanese hardware maker has found a way to boot PCs based on Microsoft's Windows XP operating system faster.
The company has come up with Iram, a PC add-in card with four DDR DRAM (double data rate dynamic RAM memory) slots that's designed to be used as a PC drive.
According to the company, since IRam uses DRAM rather than a hard disk to store information, data can be retrieved from the drive up to 60 times faster than is possible with a hard drive. Giga-byte, showed the board at the Computex exhibition in Taipei this week.
Tim Handley, a marketing account manager, Gigabyte, said that the IRam was originally designed for video and editing applications where users require fast access to very large files, but the company soon realized that the IRam had other potential applications.
He added that, users who are tired of waiting for their Windows-based PCs to boot up, can install Windows on the IRam and use that as the drive to start the system faster. When the card is used in this way, starting Windows XP is a matter of seconds, rather than a minute or more.
The IRam holds up to 4 GB of DRAM in four memory slots. The card fits into a standard PCI slot, which provides power, and it uses a SATA (Serial ATA) connection for data transfer.
Thomas Chang, a product manager, Giga-byte, said, unlike DRAM-based main memory, the IRam card doesn't lose data when the PC is switched off. As long as the PC is plugged into a socket, a very small amount of current continues to run through some parts of the system, including the PCI slots. This provides enough power to make sure that no data is lost.
If the PC is unplugged, the IRam has an on-board battery for emergency power that can last up to 12 hours. The IRam will be available in July and will be priced at around $60 without DRAM.
The company has come up with Iram, a PC add-in card with four DDR DRAM (double data rate dynamic RAM memory) slots that's designed to be used as a PC drive.
According to the company, since IRam uses DRAM rather than a hard disk to store information, data can be retrieved from the drive up to 60 times faster than is possible with a hard drive. Giga-byte, showed the board at the Computex exhibition in Taipei this week.
Tim Handley, a marketing account manager, Gigabyte, said that the IRam was originally designed for video and editing applications where users require fast access to very large files, but the company soon realized that the IRam had other potential applications.
He added that, users who are tired of waiting for their Windows-based PCs to boot up, can install Windows on the IRam and use that as the drive to start the system faster. When the card is used in this way, starting Windows XP is a matter of seconds, rather than a minute or more.
The IRam holds up to 4 GB of DRAM in four memory slots. The card fits into a standard PCI slot, which provides power, and it uses a SATA (Serial ATA) connection for data transfer.
Thomas Chang, a product manager, Giga-byte, said, unlike DRAM-based main memory, the IRam card doesn't lose data when the PC is switched off. As long as the PC is plugged into a socket, a very small amount of current continues to run through some parts of the system, including the PCI slots. This provides enough power to make sure that no data is lost.
If the PC is unplugged, the IRam has an on-board battery for emergency power that can last up to 12 hours. The IRam will be available in July and will be priced at around $60 without DRAM.
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