Spending $500 on a nice graphics card? OK, that's a reasonable enough splurge if you can afford it. But Corsair's new Dominator RAM kit? Not quite as reasonable.

This insane 24GB RAM kit is comprised of six 4GB memory modules rated at 1333MHz, loaded up with a fancy blue heatsink and a 60mm fan. It's designed for the latest top-of-the-line Core i7 processors on the Intel X58 platform, and yes, I'm sure it'll let you do seriously intensive tasks with much less hangtime.

But $1,300? For RAM? It's not the late 80's anymore, guys. That is fucking insane. [Corsair via SlipperyBrick]

That said, Mark heard straight from Samsung who said that there's no release timetable for this thing yet, meaning it's still in development. So we probably won't see it this year. [I4U via Engadget]

Even though Apple wouldn't give us the specific numbers, T-Mobile Netherlands has been a pretty reliable source for leaking things Apple doesn't quite want known, even new hardware. Besides, those specs are exactly what had been rumored, so we're just left to wonder why Apple bothered to hide them. [T-Mobile via iLounge]

On the DDR3 question, with AMD's latest AM3 Phenom II chips, they found no difference between DDR2 and DDR3. Which is good, since DDR2 memory is way cheaper than DDR3, meaning you can buy way more of it.

Going from DDR3-1066 to DDR3-1600 RAM generated some real results in some instances—slight boosts in gaming—with the Intel's Core i7 processor, but DDR3-1066 is still just fine.

And yeah, more RAM is still better, though you can get by on 2GB of RAM if you just do one thing at a time. But who the hell does that? Check out the full testing gauntlet and article, which is packed with other RAM trivia obscura: [Maximum PC]

As we confirmed a while back, the new MacBook Pros technically support up to 8GB, but OS X starts to choke on anything above 6GB. This is almost certainly a software issue, as the hardware on the newer MBPs has not, to our knowledge, changed aside from the boosted processors.

So does that mean all of the Unibody MacBook Pros can now run 8GB of RAM cleanly? We're waiting on confirmation of that. The upgrade is only sold as an accessory, and is not available as a build-to-order option. And of course, if you shop elsewhere and avoid Apple's notoriously ridiculous RAM markup, you can probably get two 4GB sticks for significantly less.

For more info, here is a good thread on people's experiences running 6GB and 8GB of RAM on MBPs with an official 4GB "ceiling."

[Apple Store via Apple Insider]

RAM prices are crazy: chip makers are always seeking the hair-thin balance between supply and demand as far as price goes, making them almost like an OPEC, keeping a tight control on supply. A number of factors lately, though, have led to tons of supply in the market and low prices.

The chipmonkeys at Ars, however, think that today's 26% price increase—happening on the first day of the markets being open since Qimonda's bankruptcy—will not be indicitive of a long-term trend. Still, probably not a bad idea to get that RAM upgrade you've been eyeing sooner rather than later. [Ars Technica]

The breakthrough behind the story is the development of a 50-nanometer, 4Gb (gigabit) (512MB) chips, which allow for a significant reduction in complexity, and therefore power consumption for currently popular sizes of RAM modules.

The 32GB possibility will no doubt be an expensive one, as it will require the sandwiching of two 16GB modules into a single dual-die unit, a method which can double the capacity of a single stick with negligible increases in size.

It was only in September that Samsung announced 2Gb RAM modules, which would have allowed for easy manufacture of 16GB sticks—but they've been slow to come to market. The most likely result of this breakthrough will be a proliferation of 16GB sticks, which benefit from the decreased chip size without calling for expensive dual-die manufacturing. [Hallyu and InformationWeek—Thanks, Henry!]

It comes in 2GB and 4GB capacity for $12 and $20, and supports Windows Ready boost, as well as a lanyard for attaching to your keychain. Instantly bump yourself a few notches on the supernerd accessory meter with this baby. [Brando via Coolest Gadgets]

It's pretty cool looking, I guess. But come on. You have to be a very serious nerd to have 54 extra SIMMs kicking around and also think that using them as decoration would be cool. But hey, who am I to judge? [Make]

Every maker has a huge oversupply of RAM—Hynix has raised capacity by 159 percent, Inotera by 112 percent, Elpida by 103 percent and Samsung by 86 percent—that they're struggling to offload. They're all planning huge production cuts for next year, but in the meantime, a massive supply with less-than-soaring demand means that RAM, for the time being, is cheap.

If you're thinking about upgrading your computer, now's the time to get RAM. Check out the prices on Newegg—for desktop memory, it's ridiculous. It's even possible, finally, to pick up 4GB of the usually pricey DDR3-1066 RAM for the new MacBooks for under $100, where it was about $120 on the low end when the MacBooks came out just a couple months ago. [Digitimes via TG Daily]

The phrase "64-bit" has been tossed around lately, the most it's been since the Nintendo 64. If you haven't heard it, pay attention. One of the most important steps forward in computer power is happening right under your nose, but most people don't know thanks to the sneaky efforts of Microsoft and Apple. Though fully 64-bit operating systems are the OSes of tomorrow, you can taste some of that power today with 64-bit versions of Windows and OS X. Here's why 64-bit computing is so awesome:

In a word, memory. We're not going to get super nerdy on you here (Wikipedia will gladly go there). To keep it simple, the whole bit thing (16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit) refers to how much data the computer can keep track of, or talk to, at once, and that's what determines how much memory it can handle. A processor with 32-bit memory addresses can basically roll with 4GB of RAM. A 64-bit system can rock, on the other hand, 16 exabytes of RAM. That's 16.8 bmillion terabytes. Of RAM. You're not going to get that kind of memory, not anytime soon; for now, from a user standpoint, this means there's simply no ceiling to memory expansion.

So while 32-bit hardware and software—the current norm in PC-land—limited you to 4GB of RAM (Physical Address Extension will let you have more, but 32-bit software will still only use 4GB), with 64-bit hardware and software, you can use vast amounts of RAM, which enables a whole new world of possibilities for applications, since they'll have a massive amounts of memory to work with.

The road to 64-bit rather conveniently dovetails with the multi-core processor arms race, using graphics cards for processing and growth of parallel processing in mainstream computing. In other words, in just a short generation, applications will be able to harness an exponential increase in power over what they can use today—a crapload of processors working together with a smorgasbord of memory at their disposal. With 64-bit, computers can also crunch bigass numbers way faster, so it's excellent for science-y things. So get ready for some cool stuff.

You're probably asking: Why not now? I've heard of this 64-bit stuff before. Well, the hardware has been around for a while—64-bit super computers go back decades, and AMD brought 64-bit processors to the mainstream a few years ago with the Athlon 64, for instance. The PowerPC G5 for Macs was also 64-bit. And if you buy a Core 2 Duo today, it's 64-bit. But the operating systems regular people use have essentially been slow to adopt 64-bit until recently, and won't plunge excluslively into 64-bit for another generation, Windows guru Ed Bott explained to us. Windows Vista ships with separate 32-bit and 64-bit editions, with Vista 64-bit being the first consumer-usable 64-bit version of Windows. Apple has been moving more and more of OS X over to a 64-bit architecture with every new version. Bott told us that while Windows 7 will have 32-bit and 64-bit versions, its eventual successor, Windows 8 (or whatever it's called) will likely be the first Windows that's exclusively 64-bit. Reportedly, next year's Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be 64-bit down to the kernel.

The reason 64-bit is the future and not the present is that 64-bit is a whole different architecture from the 32-bit status quo—different kernel means different drivers, application compatibility issues, that kind of stuff. A swift, clean break means lots of headaches, especially for the corporate world, which, as Bott told us, is as big of a concern for Microsoft as the consumer space. That's why Apple has been transitioning OS X to total 64-bit over time, and why Microsoft will still ship a 32-bit version of Windows 7. And likely, Bott says, an exclusively 64-bit Windows 8 would have a virtualization setup to run 32-bit apps. "Fortuitously," he told us, "an x64 system with lots of memory should scream at virtualization."

Another hitch on the path to true 64-bit glory that Bott raised is the question of "When will people outside of the specialized work software" like Adobe (Photoshop CS4 will be a native 64-bit application in Windows, though not in OS X) write 64-bit apps? With the coming wave of many-core parallel processing and ridiculous amounts of memory to take advantage of, programmers have a lot to play (and deal) with. Applications have to be re-written to take advantage of the multiple cores and huge amounts of memory at their disposable, and that transition is going to take some time. The other slight downside 64-bit Bott mentioned—and it is slight—is that hibernation will be slower, since all that memory means more to write to the hibernation file, and more to read when it wakes up.

While that awesomeness sounds like it's too be good to be the norm anytime soon, it's not. Leopard already does quite a bit of 64-bit voodoo, like having a 64-bit GUI and Vista 64-bit is supplanting 32-bit on computer maker's systems, now that the driver situation isn't so abysmal. And while four totally usable gigs of RAM in a Vista machine is a thing of beauty, 6GB and 12GB will quickly become the standard for performance machines with the launch of Intel's Core i7, since it uses triple-channel memory—three delicious sticks of RAM—so 64-bit couldn't come soon enough.

According to the rep I spoke to, Ramjet's tests and previous experiences by others have shown that 8GB of RAM in a notebook throws OS X into fits, making it unstable for actual use. Ramjet claims though that 6GB is a screamer—utilizing a fresh new 4GB 1066 SO-DIMM paired with a 2GB; the performance gained by having an extra two gigs negates the performance loss that tends to follow from having an unmatched pair of differently sized modules. Sadly, that combo will set you back around $675 at Ramjet ($600 for the 4GB module alone). But it's possible.

So when's that update for true working 8GB support on these notebooks going to come, Apple? [Ramjet, Mac Rumors]

Why We Care: MRAM uses just 10% of the power of DRAM and offers instant-on computer booting. Plus we're sick of typing "DRAM."

Why It's Too Good To Be True: Engineers still needs to get their MRAM failure rates down to 1% over a decade before the technology will be deemed acceptable. Everyone thinks that this can happen by 2015 (which is a lot further off than, say, tomorrow). [NikkeiNet via techradar]

It was previously thought that data held in so-called "volatile memory" was only retained for a few seconds after the machine was switched off. But the team found that data including encryption keys could be held and retrieved for up to several minutes.

There's a simple defense. If you shut down your laptop and let it sit for several minutes before going into a dangerous environ, there is little chance that the keys would be recovered from volatile memory. But seriously, when was the last time anyone shut down their laptop completely? [BBC News]

According to Rambus, graphics and game consoles will push memory bandwidth needs toward 1TB over the next 4-5 years. Rambus believes that they can achieve the 1TB goal in that time frame using a multi-chip array. There is no doubt that the need will be there sooner or later, but whether Rambus can succeed in this time frame remains to be seen. [Rambus via Electronista]

What does this mean for you? It could definitely be useful if you are extremely impatient or want to save a few bucks on your energy bill, but the fact that Splashtop can't save anything locally could prove problematic. However, future upgrades to the software could add this functionality—among other things. In the meantime, the specs on the P5E3 are worth checking out: Intel X38 chipset, DDR3 1800MHz dual-channel memory support, Dual PCI Express 2.0 x16 lanes, ASUS EPU (Energy Processing Unit) allows users to monitor and change CPU power supply, and 802.11n WiFi support. [Asus and Information Week]