DDR3 Ram....what do you think?

[nes]

Hello,

Well, you all have heard about them and some of you probably run it. What is up with DDR3 Ram? I know the specs and I see pretty packages but there are lots of cases where latency actually exceeds some comparible DDR2 Ram. I realize that DDR3 is the future but how soon can we expect to really need DDR3?

Should I keep DDR3 in mind, when I go to upgrade to my 680i Mobo and, finally, when I get myself that juicey Kentsfield Q6600 Core 2 Quad (:offtopic:BTW the Q6600's pricepoint is now hovering around $299;wow:icon_tiphat:) Seriously folks, there are some crazy Mushkin 2GB (2x1 GB 800mhz) modules out that are soo smokin. Do I really need DDR3 this soon?

[werty316]

You'll need DDR3 when both AMD and Intel commit to it so for now DDR2 is fine.

[SonicWRX]

Right now DD3 is the "new" thing. As with all new things in the computer world you are going to pay top dollar for it. DDR2 is at full maturity and still gives great performance. Until DDR3 is more wide spread and manufacturers have refined there production I would hold off on it myself. You can still get good life out of DDR2. It really depends on your bank account :lol: if you got the money go for it but if not save your money until DDR3 is more wide spread and prices come down.

[Bio-Hazard]

As of right now the only chipsets that support DDR3 are the new Intel one, P35 and X38, so if you want to use it, you'll need to get one of those. At some point, Nvidia will have a chipset that supports DDR3, but you'll have to wait.

[the_dope_chaud]

I say wait or get some cheap fast ddr2

[timberwolf120]

I say wait on DDR3. Price is too high. It is like when Intel jumped onto DDR2 long before AMD.

By the way, does anyone know if any RAM manufacturers integrated a thermal sensor into their DDR3 sticks yet? That is the only thing I'm looking forward to.

[Acidtears33]

The thing about DDR3 and you can look this up is that right now it provides so much MORE bandwidth than a CPU can take advantage of. I forget what site I read the review on but check it out.

Even at 1333MHz FSB a C2D can use all the bandwidth of even 1333DDR3.

I think at that speed it can barely use DDR2 800MHz bandwidth.

Right now DDR3 is marketing HYPE and little more. In the future it will change but right now it is only for you guys who need to pound on your chest. heh

[the_dope_chaud]

hahahahaha

yeah, the guy who I bought my core duo from told me he was buying a quad core and ddr3, I thought it was pretty much about chest pounding too !!!

[trueg50]

Stick with DDR2.

DDR3 brings some improvements to how much data it move in one clock cycle.

In addition it uses lower voltages, so at 1333 mhz, it might use 1.8 instead of 2.4 volts.

The first generation DDR2 was slower than high end DDR.

[Kougar]

I say wait on DDR3. Price is too high. It is like when Intel jumped onto DDR2 long before AMD.

By the way, does anyone know if any RAM manufacturers integrated a thermal sensor into their DDR3 sticks yet? That is the only thing I'm looking forward to.

I forgot about that, shame it wasn't a requirment of the DDR3 specs. I have yet to spot any that have, but that means little. They could already exist but typcial software may currently not detect them.

[timberwolf120]

I forgot about that, shame it wasn't a requirment of the DDR3 specs. I have yet to spot any that have, but that means little. They could already exist but typcial software may currently not detect them.

Thanks for the answer. I guess I'll have to wait for that feature to appear more often. I completely forgot about the software side. Guess I'll find out when motherboard manufacturers boast RAM monitoring as a feature. Or speedfan.

[nes]

Thanks for the insight. I will keep an eye on the DDR3 pricepoint. I'm thinking that I might just pick up the q6600 Kentsfield Core 2 Quad (Intel) before I get the ram and see what improvements that will bring.