Up to 4GB PCI RAM disk!

[negomike]

Note: SilentPCreview article dated Nov. 13, 02 So this may be old news to some. If so I apologize :<

:lips:
This company has a PCI card that allows you to add SD RAM as an HD. Has external power source so even with computer off data remains. I believe I/O is 100 times faster than normal HD.

In tests **doubled** computer performance.

SlientPCreview Review

SDRAM is volatile, you might be thinking, and you are right. For this reason, Rocket Drive ships with its own dedicated external power supply. Even when the PC is powered down and unplugged from the wall, as long as its power supply is powered and the DC jack from the power supply is plugged into the Rocket Drive, the RAM retains its data.

Before getting into the nitty gritty of benchmarks and other measurables, just setting Windows XP's virtual memory (cache) and Internet Explorer 6.0's temporary files to the Rocket Drive made the XP1600+ computer seem "twice as fast." Subjectively, everything felt much faster, quicker, more responsive.

On the XP1600+ test platform it was an instantly noticeable difference. It was a big enough difference to make me wonder if the machine now was as fast as a similarly equipped P4-2.8 GHz system which has the benefit of a 533 MHz bus and DDRAM in addition to the 1.4 GHz (!!) clock speed advantage Subjectively, they certainly felt close.

Manufactorer web site & product link

The only difference between versions is ePROM limitations, can be upgraded

It is expensive though: :<

WITHOUT RAM!
Up to 1 GB version ~$600
Up to 2 GB version ~$700
Up to 4 GB version ~ $900

WITH PREINSTALLED RAM -
1 GB - $1,800
2 GB - $3,000
4 GB - $5,000

[Maxpowers]

this is cool but 2 pricy

[minibubba]

with that kind of price tag?? no way

i'd rather buy a new cpu, ram, and 2nd HDD for raid .... and spend less money

[Maxpowers]

ya no kidding for 5000Usd u can get a top of the line system with all the bells and whistles

[negomike]

Why would you buy the $5000 one?!?!

You could get the same thing for $900 plus a few hundred for PC133 ECC SD-RAM. Also, probably the 2GB version is the best uh...can't really say deal... at $700.

But yeah, it's too expensive. I'm trying to see if they have an educational discount or something. :D

More reviews if you want to check out this rather expensive upgrade.... hmmm maybe I'll find out about bulk orders. See if we can get reasonable prices for tweaktown members. :D

Yeah, I would never pay over $2000 for this thing. But you could put a 4GB version tegether for:

$900 for card
$170 or so * 4 for RAM = $640
(less if it doesn't need ecc)

Ouch thats still a bit steap at $1540.

Hmm... for the 2GB version it's:
$700 for card
About $200 for RAM
still $900. How ouch.

Ok, you guys are right, still to expensive for most of us, including me!
But just dream of either a Barton 3000+ or P4 3 Ghz, Granit Bay, SATA 120 GB HD, ATI 9700 Pro, Audigy 2... and this.... drool heavan. :D

I'll still try to get in touch with them. But there goes my hopes. Should'a priced it out first. :(

Maybe they'll go on sale? :laugh: Right.
Now, I guess I should clean off my keyboard. :rolleyes2

Thanks for the read. :wave:

[negomike]

I am currently talking with Cenatek to see if they will consider doing a special/bulk discount if I get together a number of orders.

They would only be selling the DL version, the one *without* any RAM preinstalled.

The normal price range is $600, $700, and $900 for 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB limited.

At what price would you be willing to buy this product? Remember this is without RAM.

I believe it takes PC133 and it may have to be ECC and/or Registered. I'm not sure but I will hopefully find that out soon. So keep in mind that you would also need to by 4 RAM sticks in either 236MB, 512MB, or 1GB.

I'm not really holding my breath, but I figure why not? We and I got nothing to loose and we might gain a kickass RAM raid disk. :D

So far I?ve found name brand:
256MB ECC + Reg. For $60
512MB ECC + Reg. For $80
And 1GB ECC + Reg. For $130

Anyone know of better prices?
And remember you would need 4 of the same sticks.

[minibubba]

you would have to drop the price several hundred dollars before I would even give it a second glance

[negomike]

Ok, just got some information back.

Still working out the possibilities for a discount.

it uses normal PC133 doesn't need any of the funky ecc/reg/etc stuff.

With low profile it takes up 1 PCI slot with normal profile it will/may interfere with the next PCI slot.

Also, this will be a special onetime deal for Tweaktown.com forum members only. It cannot be made public.

If anyone has any suggestions about how to run this let me know. I'll see if they will ok posting it here.

[negomike]

No go.

They can't lower the price enough to make it affordable.

Well, it was worth a try.

End Thread.