Hynix Semiconductor announced today the launch of 2-Rank 8GB PC2-4200 RDIMM, featuring MetaRAM?s MetaSDRAM technology.

The HYMP31GP72CUP4-C6 doubles the memory capacity of AMD Opteron-based and Intel Xeon-based systems, while lowering power consumption by up to 30% when compared to industry standard 8GB 4-Rank or 4GB 2-Rank modules, Hynix claims.

The MetaRam technology allows the use of mainstream lower cost DRAM components in the manufacture of the next generation high density DIMMs, without increasing the number of memory ranks or the load on the CPU. The 8GB 2-Rank RDIMM is built with mainstream 1Gb DDR2 SDRAMs instead of the significantly more expensive 2Gb, thus lowering the cost of the module.

The MetaSDRAM chipset consists of flow controllers and an access manager which sit between the memory controller and the DRAM. It enables up to four times more mainstream DRAMs to be integrated into the DIMM without the need for any system level hardware or software changes. The chipset makes multiple DRAMs look like a larger capacity DRAM to the memory controller resulting in high capacity memory modules that circumvent the normal limitations of the memory controller.

The HYMP31GP72CUP4-C6 8GB DDR2 RDIMM is available now in production quantities. The 8GB DDR3 2-Rank RDIMM using the MetaRam technology is under development and will be available in production quantities in 2H?08.