In an unexpected development, AMD have teamed up with Dataram to create a consumer-level RAM Disk application, allowing all users to utilise a portion of installed RAM as an extremely fast Windows-addressable storage device. With suitable DDR3-1600 memory these Radeon RAMDisk's can reach peak data transfer rates of 25600 MB/s, dwarfing even the impressive speeds of SATA III SSD's.



The new application follows the release earlier this year of AMD branded memory, a product range catering to both budget and enthusiast markets and everyone in between. The Radeon title is reserved for the enthusiast, offering speeds from DDR3-1866MHz suitable for overclockers and especially those with AMD FX systems.

Although for sale immediately in the guise of the Radeon RAMDisk Xtreme, AMD are also offering a free trial of the software which grants users the ability to create RAMDisks up-to 4GB in size with non-AMD branded memory and 6GB with AMD Radeon Memory. Those who dive right in and purchase Radeon RAMDisk Xtreme will be able to allocate a huge 64GB to the Disk if they have AMD Radeon memory, or 40GB with other brands.

AMD go to great lengths to point out that RAMDisks are not a replacement for fast storage, rather a means to create an immensely fast partition which greatly accelerates the performance of games and other applications which are sensitive to data access. As this storage draws from resources usually apportioned to system memory it's generally recommended that those with 24GB or fewer only allocate half their RAM to a RAMDisk. Beyond this however the gloves can come off, to the extend that up-to 62.5% of RAM in a 64GB non-Radeon system can be used in this way.

AMD claim the software is compatible with both Intel and AMD platforms and the vast majority of RAM brands. If you want to try it follow the link below:

http://www.radeonramdisk.com/

Source: AMD Game Blog