Intel Turbo Memory for Desktops?

June 7, 2007 | 17:20

Tags: #desktop #flash #module #nand #notebook #p35 #pci-express #robson #rosa #santa #x38

Companies: #intel

We've seen a few of these dotted round the show, but on inquiring whether we'll see one soon, the answer has unfortunately been a unilateral "no".

Why so? Surely a Robson module on desktops will not only make use of PCI-Express, it'll bring Intel more money and it'll also improve performance for everyone.

No one has yet given a concrete reason, only speculation and also stating that it may be as late as next year when we get one. And by that time we will see version two arrive with a 4GB module and more performance.

Can you hack one in? Surely the support is there on the chipset and a bit of NAND with a PCI-Express controller can't be that hard to do? Apparently not, as Intel has locked everything down. Thus, it'll take a lot of reverse BIOS engineering to get it to work properly.

There is yet more hidden technology inside Intel's 3-series chipsets, it seems...

For those slightly out the loop, Turbo Memory was first shown off on Intel's new Santa Rosa platform for laptops. It makes use of both ReadyDrive and ReadyBoost by using a 1GB NAND flash module on a PCI-Express connection. It speeds up application performance by having a far greater I/O than any hard drive, meaning pagefile access is faster. Sure, you can plonk in a fast USB stick but PCI-Express has more bandwidth over a dedicated connection and is more integrated into the system.

Want a Robson module for your P35 like we do? Shout and stamp your feet in Intel's direction in our forums.
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