DDR2 to USB?

[WhitetailAni]

Idea for a product:
A DDR2 to USB adapter. No idea how you would make it, but it would be quite handy for reusing old memory.

The way it would work:

The adapter would have:

2-4 DIMM/SODIMM slots

4 AA batteries (note that only one at a time would be used, indicator lights would be on the device indicating which needs to be replaced)

A USB-C cable

 

No idea if the batteries would last long enough, as I'm pretty sure all DDR revisions use DRAM, not SRAM, but maybe.

 

Different versions:

The more dollar signs it has, the more it would cost.

2-slot DIMM - $$

2-slot SODIMM - $

4-slot DIMM - $$$$

4-slot SODIMM - $$$

 

Thoughts?

Feel free to suggest ideas and constructive critiscism. If it's not possible due to some problem (like the batteries dying due to DRAM refresh, or memory controllers, etc.) then please say so.

But saying "This is a dumb idea." isn't helpful and doesn't explain why it's a dumb idea.

[minibois]

This sounds like a "worry if you could, not if you should"-moment.

What exactly do you think this would do, that a conventional USB flash drive or even SSD can't do?

 

Sure, it will reuse DDR2 memory, but you still need to engineer a controller to make the PC interface with the memory, the controller needing some temporary storage too.

[Fasauceome]

what a chunky device tho...

 

when people think of USB drives they typically want small, handy devices. The battery aspect also gets a little cumbersome, in more ways than one.

 

A similar idea, the DDR2 SSD, was more practical back in the day due to the lack of SSD availability

 

 

but the internal, non-hotplug nature of the drive overcomes some of the shortcomings.

 

[ProjectBox153]

It would be a neat idea in theory, but the low capacity of most DDR2 sticks would be an issue. 

[WhitetailAni]

Proud owner of 4GB DDR2 modules.

[mariushm]

Gigabyte made a ram drive that used DDR1, you could simply get a sata to usb bridge chip and you have your project.

 

DDR2 requires 1.8v, it would be silly to use a single AA battery to power the sticks (as they would consume some power, like maybe 1-2 watts. 2 AA batteries in series would probably last a day or two at that power consumption.

You'd also have to power the fpga or whatever is used to convert the ddram to sata or usb. Alternatively, the device could have a SD card slot so that if the device is disconnected for more than let's say 1 minute from computer, it could dump the stuff in ram to the sd card and shut down everything to reduce power.

[WhitetailAni]

3 problems:
DDR≠DDR2

The card costs $~300 on eBay right now.

The PCI bus needs power as well. I wish it took 5v... then it would be easy to simply run the USB power lines to the correct pins...

But it takes 3.3V.

Voltage regulator in the mix.