when did flash memory get to be cheaper than system memory???

[JustinGoodie]

i've recently had the upgrade bug, and i'm nearly broke, so i've been watching hot deals and i just noticed that you can get flash memory for quite a bit less than system memory (DDR PC3200 in particular, not that it really matters). I just got a new hard drive, and now i'm looking at getting more memory, and 1 gig of ddr (dual channel notwithstanding) is like $70-80, whereas a 1 gig sd/cf/ms is somewhere in the neighborhood of $40-50.

what gives?

 

[So]

System memory is a few orders of magnitude faster and lasts MANY more (read / write) cycles. Flash ram has gotten cheaper / mb but not (much) faster. The two are completely different technologies from a meterials science standpoint.

 

[JustinGoodie]

even still... flash memory used to be way more expensive than system memory

 

[So]

Originally posted by: JustinGoodie
even still... flash memory used to be way more expensive than system memory

Yeah, they got better at mass producing Flash memory....economies of scale slowly kicked in and prices fell and fell. Right now, there is fierce price competetion in the market, keeping margins razor thin. The DRAM market already went through a series of consolidations in the mid 00's and are now enjoying a modest profit margin. If you look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_random_access_memory

you'll see that a DRAM bit requires a transistor and a capacitor while a flash bit requires just a transistor, albeit on a layer of insulator. They got better at making the flash cells over time, and caught up to the economies of scale and design efficiencies achieved in the DRAM field in the 90's.

 

[Rock Hydra]

System memory is irrelivant to Flash memory. They're not even close to the same type of memory.

 

[Powermoloch]

wow, great info here :thumbsup: