AMD today announced North American retail availability of the first AMD Memory branded desktop system memory modules, debuting with partners Patriot Memory LLC and VisionTek Products, LLC.

The company says that the "AMD Memory branded products will help take the guesswork out of DRAM selection, providing an easy and straightforward experience when looking for the ideal match for gaming or multimedia PC needs."

AMD has used the AMD OverDrive performance optimization tool to test and optimize DRAM in conjunction with the company's APUs, CPUs, GPUs and chipset platforms.

"Patriot Memory will bring over two decades of experience and expertise into this ecosystem," said Paul Jones, CEO of Patriot Memory. "Our proven ability to deliver the best technology at the most competitive prices will help pave the way to success for this memory line."

"AMD has been our strategic technology partner for ten years and VisionTek has focused our efforts on bringing their PC upgrade products to the North American market," said Michael Innes, chief operating officer of VisionTek. "The AMD brand means cutting edge technology, as well as uncompromising quality and compatibility for PC users. AMD Memory will help expand the ability to optimize performance in personal computers of today and tomorrow." VisionTek will have availability of AMD licensed memory through its strategic North American distribution partner D&H. (www.dandh.com).

This initiative builds on AMD's history of helping to supply DDR3 modules to video card add-in-board manufacturers in an effort to help ensure availability.

"AMD has been supplying and validating memory for AMD Radeon? graphics cards for several years," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD GPU Division. "Based on this experience, adding system memory to our product line was a clear opportunity for us. This move provides our partners and end-users with a trusted brand synonymous with quality -- we can help ensure performance and reliability with AMD Memory."

AMD Memory is available at three different levels -- 2GB, 4GB and 8GB sizes -- in a range of price points and speeds. The Entertainment category will feature 1333 MHz and 1600 MHz speed RAM, designed for quiet Home Theater PC applications. The Performance version supports speed up to 1600 MHz with low latency and comes in matched pairs. Finally, Radeon Edition DRAM will run at 1866 MHz, and is tuned, tested and certified for specific AMD platforms to enable maximum performance at competitive pricing.

AMD Memory is coming to major retailers including Amazon.com, Bestbuy.ca, Fry's, Memory Express, Micro Center, NCIX, Newegg, Tiger Direct, VIP Computers (UK) and others.

The company did not clarify whether it will offer branded memory modules for other kinds of computers besides desktops.