US semiconductor firm Micron said yesterday it has started to sample 150MHz and 166MHz versions of 2MB x 32 double data rate (DDR) memories. The firm said the memories, which uses 0.18 micron process technology, are intended for high bandwidth applications. The parts are intended for graphics and telecoms applications, Micron said, and will be available in volume during the third quarter of this year. The 2MB x 32 DDRs will function at speeds of 183MHz and 200MHz, Micron said, and complement existing products which clock at 143MHz, 150MHz and 166MHz. Micron demonstrated a chipset codenamed Samurai which supports DDR memories at the Intel Developer Forum last month, but, at the time, said that the chipset was unlikely to go into production. Many of Intel's larger PC customers will use DDR memory in servers arriving later this year, including machines using the Foster IA-32 technology. However, Intel is still recommending that PC vendors use Rambus memory for Foster's blood brother, the Willamette platform, although analysts say that there are bound to be DDR chipsets for this microprocessor too. ®