Flash Memory breakthroughs

MrPolarBare

MrPolarBare

Well-known member
You might have heard about the new 8 and 16GB SD Cards coming out. Well today Samsung announced their 32 and 64GB CompactFlash cards. From what I understand, Samsung claims that flash memory should double in density every 12 months (which is faster than Moore's law for Microprocessors). Obviously you would think P2 flash memory would benefit from the same breakthroughs. So if we are on the verge of getting 16GB cards now, then this time next year we will be on the verge of getting 32GB cards (according to Samsung's theory). And it seems like 32GB is the "magic number" that most people have been waiting for.
 
David S. said:
Actually the magic number I'm waiting for deals with this sign: "$"

:-)
Click to expand...


That has to be the funniest , because its so right on, response I've read in a while. Thanks so much for that David, I'm still laughing.
 
If the capacity goes up to 16 gigs and the price stays at where the 8 gigs are now, that would be the way things are supposed to work. That's what's happened with CF cards already; actually even more dramatic, a 2 gig card is now about 2/3 the price of what a ONE gig card was year ago. CF cards have, basically, doubled in capacity while dropping in price. So far, P2 cards have gone for 4 to 8 gigs, but the cost of the 8 gig is about double the 4 gig, so that's not a good thing, in my opinion, and is not following the trends of what CF cards alone are doing.
 
The problem is that the CF modules that go into the P2 cards are selected high-speed, zero-defect ones. Normal CF doesn't have the bandwidth, and the zero-defect criteria means that as the CF module capacity goes up, the chances of producing zero-defect ones are going down.

Obviously there are other variables such as the technology and fabrication process.
 
David S. said:
Actually the magic number I'm waiting for deals with this sign: "$"

:-)
Click to expand...
Weren't the 4GB cards the same price as the current 8GB cards, when they were first introduced? I haven't been following P2 that long, but I thought I read that somewhere.

THoff said:
The problem is that the CF modules that go into the P2 cards are selected high-speed, zero-defect ones. Normal CF doesn't have the bandwidth, and the zero-defect criteria means that as the CF module capacity goes up, the chances of producing zero-defect ones are going down.

Obviously there are other variables such as the technology and fabrication process.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am talking about the fabrication end of things. For these new Compact Flash cards they are using a 40nm manufacturing process therefore doubling what was previously possible. That technology should benefit all flash media, correct?
 
Yes, I would think so. Obviously developing the 40nm manufacturing process needs to be amortized, but if they still use the same materials and simply using smaller structures, then the cost of producing a CF module of the same capacity will be less expensive with the new process. That's one of the reasons why AMD and Intel have been pushing for newer processes with their CPUs -- the more they can get out of one silicon wafer, the lower their cost.
 
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