High-Speed Sync DRAM Modules Support Bus Speeds of New Microprocessors; main memories faster than any to date; an evolutionary approach to achieving greater memory bandwidth; the standard memory architecture within the next few years; one of the major industry trends offering the capability to support high bus speeds.

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 1995--Memory capability for PCs is getting a big boost as SMART Modular Technologies Inc. (OTC: SMOD) introduces the company's first high-speed Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) modules designed to match 64-bit memory bus bandwidth. The modules can be used directly to create main memories capable of operating faster than any previously available.

Developed to close the gap between high-performance microprocessors and standard memory, the first two Synchronous DRAM modules from SMART are organized as 1M x 64 and 2M x 64. Throughput is 900 Mbytes/second. Both modules are 168-pin unbuffered DIMMs (dual in-line memory modules) with serial presence detect. Currently in development are modules organized as 1Mbyte x 72, 2Mbyte x 72 and 4Mbyte x 72.

SDRAM module applications include main memory for high-performance workstations and PCs, high-end graphics, secondary cache displacement, digital set-top boxes, video conferencing, hard-disk data buffers and high-bandwidth buffers for data transmission and communications.

"Memory speed has become a limiting factor in computer performance, so the availability of Synchronous DRAM modules is good news for system manufacturers because SDRAMs allow systems to take fuller advantage of the performance capability of new high-frequency processors," said Bill Johnston, director of marketing for SMART Modular Technologies.

"The most commonly used devices for PC main memory today are fast-page and extended data out (EDO) DRAMs, but to support the new higher speed processors, DRAMs need to be even faster -- without substantially increasing system costs," Johnston said. "That's where SDRAMs come in."

"A Synchronous DRAM is a standard DRAM with a synchronous interface added," Johnston said. "It is a highly flexible device, useful in graphics and data acquisition applications, and even in disk drives," he said.

"Synchronous DRAMs provide an evolutionary approach to achieving greater memory bandwidth," Johnston said. "We expect them to become the standard memory architecture within the next few years. As the need for greater memory bandwidth migrates to the PC environment, SMART Modular Technologies will be ready with modules to meet the industry's requirements," he said.

Synchronous DRAMs can handle the higher bus speeds of the latest processors, allowing faster memory operation with burst data rates up to four times those of standard page-mode DRAMs. With SDRAMs, designers of main memory can reduce or eliminate microprocessor wait states without relying on expensive external cache memory. System designs are simplified and performance is enhanced by synchronizing all control, address and data signals to the edge of the system clock.

System designers gain a two-fold advantage with SDRAMs over the long term -- a road map to meet performance requirements of future processors, and a smooth transition to higher bus speeds without the need to redesign systems.

"Faster processor speeds will expand the demand for SDRAM modules. As processor and memory performance requirements increase, system designers may not be able to use traditional asynchronous DRAM interfaces effectively at very high speeds," Johnston said. "The synchronous architecture is one of the major industry trends that offers the capability to support bus speeds of 66MHz, 100MHz, and beyond," he said.

Pricing of the 1M x 64 Synchronous DRAM DIMM from SMART is $325 in a quantity of 1,000 and the 2M x 64 SDRAM DIMM is priced at $485 in the same quantity.

The Company

SMART Modular Technologies designs and manufactures an extensive line of DRAM single in-line memory modules (SIMMs) and dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), Flash SIMMs and Level-2 Cache Memory Modules as well as DRAM, Flash and Fax/Modem PC cards.

One of the computer industry's largest independent producers of memory modules and PC cards, SMART designs and manufactures its products at corporate headquarters in Fremont, Calif., and in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The company also maintains offices in Europe, the United Kingdom and in the Asia/Pacific region. Total monthly output of more than 300 types of memory modules and cards exceeds 900,000 units.

For more information about the company and its products, contact Bill Johnston, Director of Marketing, SMART Modular Technologies, 45531 Northport Loop West, Fremont, CA 94538; telephone [phone] ext. 104; fax [phone]. Editors may also contact Roy Twitty, Twitty-Connelly Communications at 415/591-7878, or by email via INTERNET: [e-mail].

CONTACT: SMART Modular Technologies

Bill Johnston, 510/623-1231 ext. 104

or

Twitty-Connelly Communications

Roy Twitty, 415/591-7878