AMD Radeon branded RAM coming soon

Nick Mertes 25 Nov, 2011 at 8:58pm ET Article published in Tech

It looks like AMD has decided to branch into yet another system component: RAM. They’ll be using the familiar Radeon branding and will split the brand into three editions:

The Entertainment Edition (DDR3-1333) targets low-cost entry level systems, Performance Edition (DDR3-1333/1600) targets gaming- and multimedia-oriented mainstream systems, and Radeon Edition (DDR3-1866) targets do-it-all enthusiast systems. All of the RAM will be available in 2, 4, and 8GB capacities. Heatsinks are included on the Radeon Edition and optional on the other two lines.

What may be interesting is AMD appears to be partnering with another manufacturer to produce this memory, since they have no known facilities to fabricate the components and are likely rebranding another company’s parts. Given that Patriot is listed as one of their partners it seems likely they could be the primary supplier.

No official announcement has been made regarding street date or pricing.

AMD RAM goes official

Update 11/27/2011

The RAM is now official. Manufacturing partners are Patriot and VisionTek. Availability should be (almost) immediate.

Comments

25 Nov 2011 ~ 9:41pm Garg Compare the AMD approach to OCZ getting out of memory so they could get focused on a more successful product. I think AMD has some other stuff to figure out before they diversify into a market with falling prices.
25 Nov 2011 ~ 9:46pm fatcat

Gargoyle wrote:

Compare the AMD approach to OCZ getting out of memory so they could get focused on a more successful product. I think AMD has some other stuff to figure out before they diversify into a market with falling prices.

They are going to buy up all the stocks of DDR3 and then flood/hurricane/volcano the labs that make it...

PROFIT?!
25 Nov 2011 ~ 11:46pm primesuspect I just really don't understand this move. I know money is money, but is the long-term game plan really worth the few $million this will make for the next few years? Support costs, logistics, etc. not to mention the psychological impact this has on the brand. People will see this is a move downward into a lower tier of products. AMD made CPUs and GPUs, not goofy RAM.
26 Nov 2011 ~ 12:40am djmeph

primesuspect wrote:

People will see this is a move downward into a lower tier of products.

I've always felt this way about AMD processors. The shoe fits.
26 Nov 2011 ~ 4:06pm Tim AMD makes very good GPUs, not-so-good CPUs and the RAM remains to be seen, but surely both CPUs and GPUs have more profit potential. We'll see. RAM has really come down in price lately. I'm not sure this is a good idea.
26 Nov 2011 ~ 5:01pm csimon

Tim wrote:

AMD makes ..not-so-good CPUs....
26 Nov 2011 ~ 8:15pm Cliff_Forster Private labeling some product does not mean AMD is making a major investment in being in the RAM business.
26 Nov 2011 ~ 10:29pm NiGHTS Agreed, I see this as them buying product and slapping the brandname on it, nothing more.
27 Nov 2011 ~ 12:12pm Mt_Goat

NiGHTS wrote:

Agreed, I see this as them buying product and slapping the brandname on it, nothing more.

Correct me if I am wrong. But wasn't AMD originally a producer of memory modules long before they went into CPU's and chipsets.
28 Nov 2011 ~ 2:48pm primesuspect Update with official word: partners are VisionTek and Patroit.
28 Nov 2011 ~ 3:04pm MAGIC So, is it just going to be branded with an AMD endorsement/certification? I seem to remember OCZ doing this for Nvidia SLI and ATI Crossfire.
28 Nov 2011 ~ 4:31pm primesuspect The goal is to make it easy for PC builders to make RAM purchasing decisions, as they will be certified to run in AMD Fusion platform systems.
28 Nov 2011 ~ 5:36pm djmeph Do you think they might be trying to create a baseline for future "AMD Certified" memory?
28 Nov 2011 ~ 6:15pm BuddyJ I can see them using this to tie-in with their Black Edition processors for out-of-the-box easy overclocking.
28 Nov 2011 ~ 8:42pm Cliff_Forster Maybe now I'll be able to populate all four slots without massive instability?
28 Nov 2011 ~ 9:09pm Thrax No, because that's a memory controller problem.
28 Nov 2011 ~ 9:55pm Garg

primesuspect wrote:

The goal is to make it easy for PC builders to make RAM purchasing decisions, as they will be certified to run in AMD Fusion platform systems.

Does RAM need to be certified to do anything these days?
29 Nov 2011 ~ 6:11am mertesn

Gargoyle wrote:

Does RAM need to be certified to do anything these days?

Yep, but only to practice law and medicine.