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Analysts say Turbo Memory will gain no traction

Since Microsoft launched Windows Vista, there have been a number of complaints from users regarding usability of the operating system and other problems. One of the most common complaints about operating system is the sometimes sluggish response times in machines with inadequate amounts of memory onboard.

Microsoft tried to address some of the memory utilization issues with its ReadyBoost capability, which allows users to plug-in compatible flash drives to speed the system up. The catch is that many people who try to take advantage of ReadyBoost reported no real gains in performance.

Intel saw the opening for technology that would help accelerate Windows Vista and introduced its Turbo Memory. Intel Turbo Memory hasn't proven too successful to date and has found little support with PC manufacturers. In fact, HP has openly stated it saw no value in using Intel Turbo Memory in its notebooks.

News.com reports that Intel has introduced a new version of its Turbo Memory, which aims to transparently optimize Windows for flash memory storage. The new version offers a dashboard for Windows and allows the user to choose and control what applications or files are loaded into Intel's Turbo Memory. Intel calls the ability to pick and choose what files are loaded into Turbo Memory "user pinning."

Programs and applications that are data intensive will see the most benefit from the new Intel Turbo Memory according to Intel. Turbo memory is also said to be capable of accelerating gaming, digital media editing, and productivity software.

The goal for Intel Turbo memory is to address the shortcomings Windows has taking full advantage of flash storage devices. Avi Cohen from Avian Securities told News.com, "The more interesting way is to have it (ability to take full advantage of flash storage) built into the operating system. I don't think it (Turbo Memory) gains much traction because I don't think users want to sit there and start selecting what goes where. It was a valiant effort by Intel to accelerate the move toward solid state on PC."

Intel's Troy Winslow, marketing manager for the NAND Products Group, says that Intel "has shipped millions of units" of Turbo Memory. Winslow expects Turbo Memory to show up in many manufacturers’ high-end notebooks.

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What happened to marketing
By kbehrens on 8/14/2008 3:45:24 PM , Rating: 2
Couldn't Intel come up with a better name than "turbo memory"?




RE: What happened to marketing
By ZaethDekar on 8/14/2008 4:14:48 PM , Rating: 2
wasn't that used back in like the late 80's early 90's?? I remember the 'turbo' button on my XT. but i thought I remember turbo memory also.


RE: What happened to marketing
By AFMatt on 8/14/2008 9:13:12 PM , Rating: 2
Hahaha.. I remember those days. It was so you could run older software that couldn't handle your new speedy 33Mhz processor!
You know, maybe some Mobo manufacturer should resurrect the Turbo button.. Only this time, it is used to overclock at the click of a button.


RE: What happened to marketing
By ImSpartacus on 8/14/2008 9:46:07 PM , Rating: 2
That would be cool, but their are too many unknowns. If you could program the button to do a specific pre-set oc then it would be fine, but then you ask yourself "Why don't I run this all this all the time?"

I think there's a market for that kind of thing with set hardware. I think I heard of one of those netbooks (eee clones) that could have it's atom slightly oc'ed when it was ac bound then underclocked when it was on battery. In that case I think a 'turbo' button would work great.


RE: What happened to marketing
By atlmann10 on 8/14/2008 11:49:49 PM , Rating: 2
MSi has it on there current (Centrino 2) Notebooks and I think a few others do too. The 5 click does high energy medium standard medium2 and gaming settings it hink are the 5 clicks. Asus may have it on there two new ones to the m50 and m70 I think there called.


By murphyslabrat on 8/15/2008 1:05:40 PM , Rating: 2
I know Asus's C90 series has a similiar feature with four states: two underclocking states, normal, and a 20% overclocked state.


RE: What happened to marketing
By Hare on 8/17/2008 5:36:05 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
If you could program the button to do a specific pre-set oc then it would be fine, but then you ask yourself "Why don't I run this all this all the time?"

Pretty much all Abit, MSI, Gigabyte, Asus etc motherboards support this. There's really no need for a hardware button as you can do this with the software that came with your motherboard (or use Clockgen, SetFSB or any other tool).

Why not run it all the time? Because there's no point if you aren't close to 100% cpu utilization, you would pretty much just waste electricity -> more heat -> more noise. Current CPU's drop the multiplier very little when idling so another way to save electricity is to just drop the fsb and processor voltage dynamically.

Why use a "turbo button" when you can have small utilities do this in the background automatically.


RE: What happened to marketing
By AstroCreep on 8/14/2008 9:47:19 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
...You know, maybe some Mobo manufacturer should resurrect the Turbo button.. Only this time, it is used to overclock at the click of a button.

Somebody did a year or two back. Forgive me for being scant on the details, but I want to say it was Gigabyte who used it for a series of notebooks that they made.
They had a 'turbo' button that enables some software-based overclocking. Click it again to set it back to normal.

I guess it didn't pan-out too well as it's not something we've seen since.


RE: What happened to marketing
By Solandri on 8/14/2008 4:20:37 PM , Rating: 2
Supercharged memory?


RE: What happened to marketing
By corduroygt on 8/14/2008 4:35:02 PM , Rating: 2
Performance is out efficiency is in these days.
So, hybrid memory would be better :)


RE: What happened to marketing
By Adonlude on 8/14/2008 5:02:17 PM , Rating: 2
Turbo memory sounds pretty efficient to me. C'mon, it's not like they made supercharged memory.


RE: What happened to marketing
By Solandri on 8/14/2008 6:21:12 PM , Rating: 2
Technically, I suppose if it's overclocked, it's supercharged.


RE: What happened to marketing
By jadeskye on 8/14/2008 6:49:18 PM , Rating: 2
ultra-mem!

mem-brain!

yeah i'm out >_>


RE: What happened to marketing
By Jeff7181 on 8/15/2008 1:04:37 AM , Rating: 2
Nope, it's blown.


RE: What happened to marketing
By Arribajuan on 8/15/2008 10:59:35 AM , Rating: 2
only if voltage is up!


RE: What happened to marketing
By Cr0nJ0b on 8/14/2008 4:21:06 PM , Rating: 2
They could have used maybe Memory dx, that's got a ring to it. And they could have a button on the side of the machine that would engage or disengage this function to speed up memory or let it run at regular speed. My guess is that HP didn't push the turbo button when they did their testing.


RE: What happened to marketing
By PointlesS on 8/14/2008 4:41:15 PM , Rating: 3
Intel XTREME MEMORY to the MAX!!!


RE: What happened to marketing
By ZaethDekar on 8/14/2008 5:37:55 PM , Rating: 2
and next in Strongbadia:

Will the Cheet succesfully clone himself to have a female companion?


RE: What happened to marketing
By amanojaku on 8/14/2008 7:18:50 PM , Rating: 2
XTREME MEMORY? Sounds like pornographic storage from Seagate...


RE: What happened to marketing
By Omega215D on 8/15/2008 3:48:11 AM , Rating: 2
Sounds like the perfect companion to the future Apple P-P-P-P-PowerBook!


RE: What happened to marketing
By kyleb2112 on 8/14/2008 6:51:34 PM , Rating: 3
RAD RAM!
If you're going back to the '80s go all the way baby.