DDR3 : Revolution or Evolution ?

[sushrukh]

DDR3 : Revolution or Evolution ?


"Platforms with DDR3 SDRAM support are already available in the market. So, it is high time we performed a comparative test session of DDR3 SDRAM against DDR2 SDRAM. The main goal of our today’s investigation is to find out what memory technology is more suitable for today’s computer systems, and what prospects each of them has ahead."

Link :- http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/ddr3.html

[westy87]

Eugh such a long article = straight to conclusions page lol

[Delta]

I believe that it is going to come down to latency vs bandwidth plus Raw speed plus the cost to performance ratio which is very high at present. DDR3 is here to stay and it wont take memory,chipset and board manufacturers no time at all to have parts ready to build some of the fastest systems to date, as some of you have already read numerous bechmarking sites findings. I found that at first DDR3 and DDR2 systems were on par with one another(give or take a bit) but in the last month things are starting to pull ahead slightly for DDR3, but not all. My point is that DDR3 systems are going to be fast tracked. DDR3 chips with frequencies at 1600/1800/2000 mhz with latencies at the 7/8/9/10's are already for sale, but the cost of these chips are way too high..(For now)

I also believe from what I have read that this will happen with-in the next few months as we have already seen manufacturers lowering DDR3 timings and raising frequency speeds..I dont think this will take a year or two as it did with DDR2.

This is going to be a good thing for us consumers as the price of DDR2 boards and DDR2 modules are going to start to drop in price as chipset and board manufacturers are eventually going to lean toward DDR3 systems for their high profit..$$$$$$

[Kougar]

There are several memory manufacturers that are already releasing 1600MHz modules with CAS 7 timings for $648 for the 2gb kit. OCZ already stated they plan to do one better still through special binning of the Micron Z9 DDR3 chips, and still two others state they will soon be releasing 2,000Mhz rated chips.

Considering typical 1,333MHz modules feature CAS 9 timings and cost over $350, I think it should show that DDR3 is poised to quickly steamroll DDR2 performance-wise. That is keeping in mind 1500Mhz @ CAS 7 will already outperform the best DDR2 today, let alone 1600MHz CAS 7 modules. As soon as prices drop, there will be little reason to stick with DDR2.

[sushrukh]

Exactly & not only that,many people have been able to OC their 1600Mhz DDR3 to 2000 Mhz easily.Price is the main thing that's currently holding DDR3 back & another vital reason i think, no Nvidia chipsets with DDR3 support yet.I bate if nvidia will release a SLI capable DDR3 chipset now,DDR3 sales are bound to increase atleast 30% & that's why the prices are bound to fall too.Crossfire on P35 boards with 16x+4x doesn't look so promising against nvidia's 16x+16x.Common now Nvidia, where's your DDR3 chipset ?

[Delta]

AnandTech has an interesting review on the new OCZ-1800 chips and a few other nice DDR3 chips in comparison...They are getting 8-10% performance increase over DDR2 which is looking good for DDR3.

http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=3053

We know that one has to read between the lines on reviews and disect them carefully but DDR3 is moving along at a rapid pace as far as performance, Now if they can just drop the price a few hundred dollars it woud be a great buy.

sushrukh,
I am sure Nvidia will come around to DDR3 sooner or later as it took them quite a while to come around to DDR2, probably due to their great memory controller :smile:

I think that if the rumors about Intels X38 chip are true then maybe Intel might have SLI...Who knows?

[Kougar]

Speaking of prices, it was only a few months ago people were actually forking out $400-500 for a 2gb kit of the best Corsair Denominator. Those same people now can actually get something for all of that money, although I'd just buy a G92 myself. ;)

Sushrukh, you bring up a a good point about OCing them to 2GHz. But that seems to be another case of hardware moving faster than the software... shouldn't be to big an issue for some BIOS reworks to bring the higher needed dividers to better OC them. And not just stratospheric speeds too, they mentioned that same OCZ kit does CAS 5-5-4-12 for DDR3 @ 1333MHz :) No DDR2 can run that high, and the closest DDR2 kit needs higher timings to just break 1300Mhz.

[sushrukh]

When i've posted that Kougs,the highest official DDR3 speeds were 1600 Mhz but Super talent has already released 1866 Mhz DDR3 memory modules :ahhhhh:. I can remember how much time it took from advancing the DDR 200 to DDR 400.In the case of DDR3, i'm seeing in just every 2/3 weeks DDR3 is getting faster & faster.I wonder,what's the last/ maximum speeds that can be achieved by DDR3 technology ? I've already heard of DDR3 3000Mhz.:ahhhhh: Don't know it's a rumour or can be achieved.If DDR3 can achieve that speed or more than that ,then that will be a hell of a memory upgrade over our current generation 800 or 1066 Mhz modules & no one can question the performance advantage of DDR3 over DDR2 given the fact that prices should be within our reach.

[AJ.]

With prices like that I highly doubt anybody will be wanting to switch over to DDR3 anytime soon. I'd estimate another year or so before we see DDR3 becoming mainstream.... or atleast having a mainstream price lol.

Although it is exciting to see we're finally going to see DDR3 Ram in our systems. GPU's are moving on to DDR4 and DDR5 while we're still with DDR2. :rolleyes:

[sushrukh]

Ya, but there are people AJ who tries to grab every bit of new technology at whatever prices they have to pay.I've seen many people who love to stay updated & they will buy at whatever price they will get it for.

[AJ.]

Yeah thats true. But what I mean is the average pc gamer. Most gamers cant afford to spend crazy amounts of money like that. Even if performance is greatly improved. Take for example Nvidias 8800 series. Most people own GTS's because they are reasonably priced while offering similar performance to the higher end gpu's. Thats what I mean by mainstream. What the average consumer is willing to spend. The people that want the latest and greatest in my book are enthusiasts.

[Kougar]

Well those prices I gave were for the current best DDR3 RAM you can buy. Average prices are already at $300-380 range for a basic 2gb DDR3 kit.

sushrukh, from what I've read DDR3 1600MHz is available as a RAM divider, but OCing any further such as to 2,100Mhz requires the FSB to be overclocked rather high.

[sushrukh]

sushrukh, from what I've read DDR3 1600MHz is available as a RAM divider, but OCing any further such as to 2,100Mhz requires the FSB to be overclocked rather high.

Then what do you say, as Super Talent has already released their 1866Mhz modules & that too the stock speed.I don't have the idea but are you saying that this 1866 Mhz modules are overclocked modules or if we need to run them even at their stock speed will we still need to OC the FSB considerating the modules are running on their stock speed ?

[AJ.]

Well those prices I gave were for the current best DDR3 RAM you can buy. Average prices are already at $300-380 range for a basic 2gb DDR3 kit.

I dont know, still seems kind of pricy to me especially considering it's only 2GB's of it. The most I would pay for a 2GB DDR3 ram kit would be $180-$200 max. But thats just me. Everyone's different I guess :)

[werty316]

Then what do you say, as Super Talent has already released their 1866Mhz modules & that too the stock speed.I don't have the idea but are you saying that this 1866 Mhz modules are overclocked modules or if we need to run them even at their stock speed will we still need to OC the FSB considerating the modules are running on their stock speed ?
They are rated or stock speeds; in order to get the sticks to those speeds you'll have to overclock them since motherboards don't official support that speed.

Its like how if were to install DDR2-1066 memory into a DDR2 motherboard that only supports DDR2-800 so in order to set the memory at its rated speed of DDR2-1066 you'll have to do some overclocking.

[sushrukh]

They are rated or stock speeds; in order to get the sticks to those speeds you'll have ot overclock them since motherboards don't official support that speed.

Thx.

[Bio-Hazard]

Man, I was just pricing out DDR3 for a customer tonight (got a order for a no holds bared C2D system). Anyway, that stiuff is way to high priced IMHO and told the customer to hold off on DDR3 at least for a while till the prices come down and DDR3 makes more of a differance. Almost $400 for 2 gig of Corsair DDR3 1333..........:(. You can get 4 gig of DDR2 Corsair for less than that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145183

[Kougar]

Yeah, I've seem some 2gb DDR3 kits around $300 now, but no one should go for them as they were all 1067MHz CAS 7 kits. Could always pick a mainboard that supports both DDR types if he really wants DDR3 capability without a new board in the future I guess.

I gotta start my own little computer building for customers thing going sometime... :tongue: Another one or two DDR3 chip releases like the Micron Z9's and prices will continue to slide though, companies are really going nuts releasing parts when there isn't even a JEDEC standard for anything past 1,333MHz at a lax CAS 7. :shock:

[timberwolf120]

According to this JDEC spec chart on AnandTech:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2989&p=2

it says that a thermal sensor is supported, but optional. I personally would like to start seeing thermal sensors on my ram sticks. Always wondered how hot my RAM got and it would help in overclocking too. Also, it just makes sense (to me at least) since we got sensors for our CPU and GPU.