Conclusions
To be honest, we didn't actually expect Gigabyte to turn the i-RAM into an actual end-user product, much less make it available in North America. But they have, and at $150 online, the i-RAM is actually pretty affordable, all things considered. With the price of 1GB DDR modules is hovering around $80, it's possible to build a 4GB i-RAM drive for under $500. That's a horrific cost per gigabyte for a hard drive or RAID array, but it's pretty good for a solid-state storage device with this kind of performance.

Of course, the i-RAM isn't without limitations. Performance is undoubtedly constrained by the 150MB/s Serial ATA interface, and I shudder to think how much faster the i-RAM could be if it supported 300MB/s transfer rates. Size is an issue, as well. With only four DIMM slots and no support for 2GB modules, the i-RAM hits a capacity ceiling at 4GB. That might be enough storage for certain applications, but it leaves us wanting more. We'd gladly accept a double-wide design if it allowed for a greater number of DIMM slots and a larger overall capacity. As it stands, you'll have to rig up multiple i-RAM drives in RAID to breach the 4GB barrier.

While we're griping, it's tempting to suggest that Gigabyte skip Serial ATA altogether and build an i-RAM that taps the bandwidth of multiple PCI Express lanes. Such a card could offer considerably more throughput than even a 300MB/s Serial ATA interface, but it would require drivers, if not additional software, and that would ruin some of the i-RAM's elegance. As it stands, the i-RAM should work in any system with a Serial ATA port and PCI slot, regardless of the operating system.

Although the i-RAM's cost and limitations ultimately constrain its appeal, they don't take away from the fact that it's significantly faster than any other storage solution we've tested. Performance oscillates between impressive and awe-inspiring, and for those niche markets that demand blistering I/O, the i-RAM may be just the ticket.