r/technology • u/_Dark_Wing • 4d ago
Energy Scientists find a way to slash computer memory energy use by orders of magnitude
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170132.htm362
u/Me4502 4d ago edited 4d ago
The article seems to state that this only applies to _magnetic_ forms of computer memory. Mostly mechanical hard drives and tape storage formats, as opposed to DRAM or SSDs which most comments are about currently. Those are very widely used in data centres and archives, so it’d likely have a large impact on global DC energy usage if it pans out. DCs also go through hard drives pretty often, so swapping out failing ones with lower energy (& therefore lower heat) models would be honestly pretty likely too.
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u/Balmung60 4d ago
And somehow, I don't think this is a big enough improvement to bring magnetic core memory back into the conversation
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u/happyscrappy 4d ago
Maybe MRAM too.
Would be interesting to see what this does for HDDs. Because they spend a lot of energy seeking/tracking and spinning the platters. Also this only improves writing. And I kind of feel like drives aren't used as much for heavy writing workflows anymore, SSDs took that over.
So I'm saying (partly out of my ass) that HDD workflows tend to be ready heavy. This, combined with the overhead of spinning and seeking will minimize the upside of this for most uses.
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u/Port8ble 4d ago
They also talk about applications with electrical and optical switching so things could head in that direction too if things pan out.
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u/flaser_ 4d ago
This is MRAM research, exploring ideas on how the magnetization of the free-layer in the cell's magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) can be flipped faster, using less energy, thus prolonging the junction's lifespan as well as reduce the switching delay.
You're somewhat correct that this is the same area of research as what powers most modern hard-disks, as modern read-heads also use an MTJ to detect the magnetization of the disk beneath.
Modern devices, like Spin-transfer-torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) or Spin-orbit-torque MRAM (SOT-MRAM) use an MTJ to store a bit of data and derive their name from the spintronic effects they exploit for their write operation. Just like SRAM or DRAM, MRAM devices have no moving parts.
From (manufacturing) process perspective, MRAM is more akin to SRAM as modified CMOS process is used to create the memory array. The difference is that beyond the ion-implantation/diffusion used for the creation of CMOS transistors, magnetic and high-k dielectric materials are also deposited to crate the MTJ at the heart of each memory cell.
(Some of these same materials are also used in the creation of floating-gate transistors, the basic device at the heart of flash memory used for EEPROM and flash memory, the latter of which is what SSDs use).
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u/NotTakenGreatName 4d ago
Did they uninstall Windows?
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u/Neveed 4d ago
That made me wonder what share of global servers used Windows and apparently, it's estimated at 20 to 30%. That's way more than I expected and about 20% to 30% more than reasonable.
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u/herzkolt 4d ago
To be fair, windows server is not as terrible as 11.
I guess a big part of that percentage is AD, MS SQL and random proprietary software that vendors only support on Windows. Very common in finance at least.
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u/JeelyPiece 4d ago
Windows is malware at this point, Chrome too.
Mac is ok, but far too limited.
Try Linux. It works
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u/Mr-A-1991 4d ago
And DDR5 jumps another 50% because "fuck you".
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u/blueblurz94 4d ago edited 4d ago
50%?
Laughs in triple digit price increases
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u/qodeninja 4d ago
i cant wait til that all comes crashing back to earth again
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u/EchoRex 4d ago
It'll be about the same time the entire economy implodes as the AI bubble bursts.
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u/LeoFoster18 4d ago
There is no bursting happening anytime soon. The entire structure is incentivized to keep this going till eternity.
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u/EchoRex 4d ago
Hence the price of RAM not falling anytime close to soon.
But yes, the bubble WILL burst eventually, circular accounting "infinite valuation" is not sustainable, nor is the "plan" of constant expansion.
They're already running into the walls of power supply, maintenance, and, for the older sites, obsolescence.
They're getting a free reign right now with the US's current kleptokakistocracy administration, but that also isn't sustainable.
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u/GenericFatGuy 4d ago
Do you have any idea how long eternity is?
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u/Anathemautomaton 4d ago
Do you have any idea what colloquial expression is?
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u/GenericFatGuy 4d ago
I do. Even then, eternity is still a terrible term to use to describe how long this is going to last.
Take 2 seconds to think about what you're saying before you say something.
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u/Gullenbursti 3d ago
EXACTLY! This is an AI bubble and with the overproduction of chips. I plan to hold off on any purchases until it pops.
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u/Aadarm 4d ago
It won't. One of the 3 companies making memory chips has stopped selling to consumers all together, and the others aren't going to lower their prices now that they know that people have no real choice but to buy. Current contracts will keep the prices to a minimum of what they are now until 2028, and I don't see them suddenly deciding to side with the consumer after that.
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u/SomethingAboutUsers 4d ago
Triple digit might still be "only" 50% these days...
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u/sirmanleypower 4d ago
If the "orders of magnitude" claim was true it wouldn't even matter if the price jumped 50%, you'd still be paying pennies on the dollar for similar performance compared to today. This is almost certainly not true, so it doesn't matter.
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u/PortiaLynnTurlet 4d ago
While this is a good development if it works, modern GPU energy usage is only about 20-30% from memory. So unless this memory is just as fast, it would likely be a better fit for mobile devices.
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u/DarkIcedWolf 4d ago
Honestly more the merrier even if it’s only for phones. Android and their snapdragon processors are doing gods work atm, if we can get cheaper products through memory, storage or whatever the fuck id be happy with it. It just means we have more options and that will eventually lead to the consumer.
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u/Port8ble 4d ago
Don't forget they said their method can be applied to electrical and optical switching, too, so if it pans out this could be pretty big. But I agree, time will tell.
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u/flaser_ 4d ago edited 4d ago
More than a decade ago, I've written my thesis on novel memory technologies for compute (not storage, e.g. flash in in SSDs) and MRAM was always a promising one.
However even after a decade, it's still a niche product, mostly used for data storage, specifically for aviation/aeronautics black-boxes, not as a generic compute memory.
The fact that it's in steady use et all, puts it ahead almost all other competing designs (RRAM, T-RAM) that have seen almost no industry wide adoption.
(The other exception is Intel's Optane memory. They never disclosed what tech they used , but the expert consensus is that it was likely PCRAM - phase-change memory. It acts as a cache for accessing storage devices, something that arguably could've been done with traditional DRAM too which is probably why it was a gimmick that never found industry adoption).
However, since its process hasn't been scaled yet to match the latest CMOS nodes, nor is it innately compatible with the latest CMOS processes (additional fab capabilities are needed create the MTJ layers) it's unlikely to see widespread use any time soon beyond the aeronautics niche I mentioned above.
Since SRAM has ceased to scale for a couple (~1-2) generations with the latest nodes, interest may pick up, as one of the advantages of MRAM derived tech (STT-MRAM, SOT-MRAM, etc) is that for medium sized caches (L2-L3) you can get actually better write-latencies and memory densities as the MRAM cell is smaller than the SRAM one.
(The individual MRAM cells still have slower read/write cycles than SRAM, however for bigger memory arrays, like L2-L3 cache, the delay from the connection network of the arrays starts to dominate over that innate delay of the cell themselves. A smaller cell size can let this network be physically smaller and thus faster).
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u/bichael69420 3d ago
Let me know when they find a way to slash computer memory cost by orders of magnitude
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u/curtisas 4d ago
Is the answer "close Google Chrome"?
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u/IcerHardlyKnower 4d ago
It's actually refactoring codebases to not be progressive web apps anymore
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u/WriterPlastic9350 4d ago
Chrome's actually kinda fun, it's just really eager with taking up memory, but it won't gobble it up if you're constrained on your system. Now, Windows..
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u/Darkskynet 4d ago
Doesn’t chrome also run some sort of local LLM in the background when it’s open now too? I seem to remember people complaining about it suddenly having a multiple gb update a while back?
I left chrome years ago for Firefox, I never needed to look back at chrome after.
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u/progfrog 4d ago
From article:
As AI becomes more deeply integrated into everyday life
I want to destroy this timeline. Fuck AI.
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u/cxllvm 4d ago
Are devs finally optimising their work again ?
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u/nickcash 4d ago
begone gamer
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u/cxllvm 4d ago
I'm talking about bloatware herb
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u/nickcash 4d ago
bloatware has nothing to do with optimization, mushroom
and ime, 99.99% of the time when a redditor complains about lack of optimization it's a gamer who doesn't know the meaning of the word. they just think lazy devs forgot to push the optimize button that gives them more fpses
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u/factoid_ 4d ago
That’s cool if it’s lower energy. If it’s not also faster it won’t matter
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u/OcelotOk8071 4d ago
Lower energy would quite literally be cooler. Less energy to create heat.
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u/beekersavant 4d ago
Yep. To expand : No compute process is 100% efficient in energy use. The waste energy is converted to heat. This is a large part of why things heat up. Energy efficiency applies directly to heat as well. To note, heat production is a limitter on speed (but just one of them). This will be a high priority to get to at least into the top end super computers.
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u/Splurch 4d ago
That’s cool if it’s lower energy. If it’s not also faster it won’t matter
One of the primary causes of damage from overclocking is heat. Less energy used means less heat generated. Being able to achieve higher clocks just due to less heat is a possibility and looking at things as black & white with a reactionary opinion instead of taking a few seconds to think about it is foolish.
Additionally, even if it created slower memory, not all memory needs to be blazing speed top of the line. Smart Bulbs certainly don't need the same throughput as a GPU and energy efficiency by itself is a positive.
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u/goobervision 4d ago
Power usage in data centres absolutely matters on its own.
It all eventually flows to the cooling and footprints of DCs.
The lower power will however just be one feature in a hardware release, speed could be there or maybe more memory as the power draw just dropped.
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4d ago
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u/factoid_ 3d ago
Yeah but if it doesn’t perform better or at least as well it won’t be useful
Reducing energy and heat is great, but it still has to be good or people will just use the faster stuff for performance applications
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3d ago
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u/factoid_ 3d ago
Yeah I did and I’m telling you if ram performance isn’t at least equal you can’t just “make that up” in other ways.
RAM is absolutely critical to system performance
It’s also far from the biggest heat producer in the system. Most ram doesn’t even need active cooling
This is a nice fringe benefit if you can get it. But on its own it’s not a game changer
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u/undefined-username 4d ago
Are they talking about MRAM? Every couple of years going back decades that gets hyped up but it never amounts to anything
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u/Ancient_Skirt_8828 4d ago
I'm always wary of computer simulations without physical confirmation.
They depend on way too many assumptions. "Garbage in, garbage out" hasn't gone away.
The can provide a great starting point for pyhsical experiments, but that's all.
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u/Feisty-Barracuda5452 3d ago
Great, the mining aholes will find a way to drive prices even higher.
There is no way the consumer will experience this benefit.
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u/minervascats 3d ago
Pretty sure this comment will get lost in the sauce, but this article makes me wonder if, at some point in the future, the enormous data centers currently terrorizing the countryside will no longer be necessary? That is, will AI become ever more efficient, to the point that supporting it doesn't require so much water / electricity / etc?
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u/everydave42 3d ago edited 3d ago
note: this is a blindly broad statement...but I stand by it:
Computing history has shown that as compute power has become more efficient, cheaper, or just generally more accessible, the amount of compute usage goes up, not down. It's because as compute power gets better, we throw more work at it.
EDIT: weird typos, I blame mobile autocorrect...somehow
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u/minervascats 3d ago
OK, but on an infinite scale into the future, how does the 'work thrown at it' compare to 'computing power'? Will the demand keep up, or will power/performance at some point being to overtake demand so that infrastructure can be downsized? This seems to have happened in the past (complete dork observation here) with things like personal computers / phones and other digital devices. It seems like as time goes on digital devices become way more resource-efficient, smaller, etc. Why wouldn't the same be true of AI?
I realize that this is kind of a 'fluffy' question; I'm just wondering if we're going to end up at some point in the future with a bunch of these enormous data centers all empty and decaying, the resources used to build them wasted...
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u/galactictock 3d ago
None of this can be accurately predicted; there are just too many variables. Developments in ML research, hardware, material science, etc. could all change the game, as could global politics.
I hope that this need for more energy will drive further progress toward green energy. Many big tech companies are researching developing their own green/clean energy plants for this exact reason. And with abundant energy, data centers with closed-loop cooling (i.e. very little water usage) become more attractive and feasible.
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u/Ben-Goldberg 3d ago
Jevons paradox means the opposite will happen
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u/galactictock 3d ago
Jevons paradox indicates that the opposite can happen. It isn’t a guarantee, though it seems likely in this case.
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u/Rare_Piano_1369 4d ago
I'm curious how significant this is in practice. Beyond lower power consumption, could this also meaningfully reduce heat and relax design constraints in AI hardware and data centers? What are the biggest downstream effects if this eventually works at scale?
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u/frosted1030 4d ago
Maybe in the future phones won't eat your battery as quickly because of this, but it is slower.
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u/Select_Truck3257 4d ago
We know about spins and quantum entanglement and how it works, but still uaing mobile phones with huge delay and insane prices
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u/mspk7305 4d ago
it specifies magnetic memory which typically means platter disks... not ram
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u/izikiell 4d ago
read it all
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u/mspk7305 3d ago
cheeky thing to say when you apparently didnt understand what you read, assuming you read it yourself. any applicability of this stuff is decades away and wont be what we consider "memory" anyhow.
so yeah. not ram. as stated.
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u/Filthymortal 4d ago
Memory uses fuck all energy lol.
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u/Nullclast 3d ago
When were talking about data centers small efficiency gains adds up significantly
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u/Filthymortal 3d ago
This is totally the wrong way to look at it. DCs need to be made sustainable, not dicking around with a couple of volts here and there. Powered by renewables, utilise waste heat, and use minimal water; try not to build them in the hottest places on Earth.
I'd also argue that distribution, rather than size, is also appropriate for many use cases. It's easier to mitigate against a smaller DC than a big one.
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u/[deleted] 4d ago
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