Last week, Intel introduced new server platforms based on Xeon Cascade Lake, which, among other things, will be supported by the first serial Optane DC Persistent Memory modules in DDR4 "bars" format. The appearance of systems with this non-volatile memory instead of conventional modules with DRAM chips is expected in early summer, and Intel is not in a hurry to announce the price of the issue. But there are those who are impatient, and we have the opportunity to say something definite about this.
According to our colleagues at AnandTech, two vendors in the US have begun accepting orders for 128GB and 256GB DDR4 Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory modules. By the way, there are no 512 GB modules in both proposals, which hints at their not coming soon. It is worth mentioning that in the server memory category, which includes Optane DC Persistent Memory modules, prices for high-capacity memory in the form of RDIMMs and LRDIMMs are quite high, reaching several thousand US dollars per module. Optane DC Persistent Memory on 3D XPoint chips was supposed to solve this and other limitations - bring an increased memory array closer to the processor and make it non-volatile and cheaper than conventional NAND. And Intel succeeded!
Based on pre-order prices, which may yet be quite far from Intel's recommended prices, 128 GB Optane DC modules cost $842-$893, while 256 GB Optane DC modules are priced at $2668-$2850. Thus, the cost of one gigabyte of Intel Optane memory in DDR4 modules starts at $6,57 per GB, which is approximately equal to the cost of one gigabyte of conventional RAM in DDR4 modules.
Unfortunately, both sellers have not disclosed the dates for the start of shipments of Optane DC modules. But, judging by the launch of the collection of applications, the company has started or is close to starting deliveries of new products to its closest partners.
Source: 3dnews.ru