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posted on 11 March 2008 12:04

FREMONT, CA, February 25, 2008—SMART Modular Technologies (WWH), Inc. (SMART) (NASDAQ: SMOD), a leading independent manufacturer of memory modules, embedded computing subsystems, and TFT-LCD display products, today announced the industry’s first cost-effective 8GB dual-rank PC2-4200 registered DIMM (RDIMM), featuring SMART’s advanced packaging technologies and the MetaSDRAM chipset from MetaRAM, Inc.

Designed for use in high-end servers, SMART’s new RDIMM doubles available storage capacity, while significantly lowering cost compared to traditional dual-rank modules, and improving system performance by lowering power consumption with use of a four-rank module solution.

The new module combines SMART's advanced DDR2 packaging technologies with the MetaRAM chipset architecture, enabling servers to replace the functionality found in modules built with more expensive components. For example, SMART’s 8GB RDIMM doubles the maximum memory capacity from 128GB to 256GB on AMD™ Barcelona-based 32-slot motherboards for high performance computing (HPC) and server applications. Also well suited for embedded computing, the SMART RDIMM provides up to 32GB of total capacity on the San Clemente-based, Cranberry Lake 4-slot small form factor platform offered by Intel®.

Using conventional modules today to achieve these system densities would be impractical because of increased cost and power consumption and degradation of system performance due to excessive module bus loading.

By replacing four traditional 4GB dual-rank RDIMMs with two of SMART’s 8GB dual-rank DDR2 RDIMMs, designers can reduce power consumption by up to 20 percent. “SMART’s new high-density RDIMMs satisfy customers’ needs for increased memory density while adopting the most cost-effective DRAM technology available,” stated Alan Gulachenski, SMART’s Senior Director of Advanced Memory Solutions. “SMART is extremely pleased to partner with MetaRAM and to have the opportunity to leverage MetaSDRAM technology in our latest 8GB memory modules. As a leading supplier of custom, high-density memory solutions, SMART prides itself on the ability to offer our customers leading-edge memory solutions.”

“SMART’s RDIMM featuring MetaRAM’s MetaSDRAM chipset technology will help its customers meet the biggest challenge they currently face in their IT systems: closing the persistent gap between memory and processing improvements,” said Suresh Rajan, MetaRAM’s Vice President of Marketing. “Processing power doubles every 18 months, while memory is now doubling only every 36 months, and that gap limits processor utilization for many applications. By incorporating MetaSDRAM in the 8GB RDIMM module, SMART offers customers an affordable, easy solution to boost system performance.”

For more information about SMART's 8GB dual-rank RDIMMs, contact your SMART sales representative. For further information on Smart Modular, please click here.

[Majid Soltani, staff writer.]