Micron Technology has produced the DR3 load-reduced, dual-inline memory module (LRDIMM) and will begin sampling 16-gigabyte (GB) versions this fall. The company claimed that by reducing load on the server memory bus, the new offering provides the option to support higher data frequencies and increase memory capacity.

The new LRDIMMs will reportedly be manufactured using the company’s 1.35-volt, 2-gigabit (Gb) 50-nanometer DDR3 memory chips, allowing the company to increase server module capacity because of the chips’ high-density and small die size. Micron’s 2Gb 50nm DDR3 product is currently in qualification with customers and is ramping toward high volume production.

The company said that the new offering currently uses Inphi’s recently announced isolation memory buffer (iMB) chip in place of a register to reduce the bus load when transferring data between the memory and processor. By reducing the load on the bus, the new offering is expected to enable servers to handle higher frequencies of data to improve overall system performance and support increased number of modules for enhanced system memory capacity.

Also, the new product is said to offer an increase of 57% in system memory bandwidth, when compared to an RDIMM. Also as server power consumption continues to be a top concern for customers, LRDIMMs will also operate at 1.35-volts, the company noted.

Robert Feurle, vice president of DRAM marketing at Micron, said: “With the rise in virtualisation, our new 16GB modules allow customers to easily expand their memory capacity. While traditional RDIMMs limit the amount of memory that can be accommodated due to their loading profile, LRDIMMs eliminate that problem by reducing the module load.”

“And because our LRDIMMs are designed using Micron’s new low-power 2Gb-based 50nm DDR3 chips, which reduces module chip count, we are providing customers with a more cost-effective and efficient means to scale server memory capacity and performance, while also reducing the power levels.”

Micron is currently sampling an 8GB LRDIMM with select enablers. Mass production of its 16GB LRDIMMs is expected to begin in 2010.