DDR2 is being phased out. We welcome DDR3

INTRODUCTION:

We are at the turning point of technology once again. Once every 5 years or so you will see this happening, or who knows, even earlier from now on. At the rate of development in the IT world 'earlier' is not impossible. We had this discussion when DDR was being replaced by the more expensive yet faster DDR2. And here we are again, DDR2 being replaced by the faster, more expensive DDR3.

And to be honest, this time the change is much better... I can see so many more benefits from having DDR3 on the market. First and most important reason being the fact that it removes a 'bottle neck' as we called it, between the fast growing CPU speeds and the fast growing motherboard bus speeds and/or QPI speeds as lately introduced.

DETAILS:
Let's have a closer look for those of us who would like this explained.
DDR2 (Double Data Rate) has been used for quite a while now and we are (in a way) happy to see it go. The characteristics we are looking for in order to compare are the following:

There is no point going in to the details of each category because the numbers speak for themselves.
So here is DDR3 in detail:

Note: Some manufacturers claim to have reached the DDR3-2200 level but this is not mentioned by the JEDEC (global standards for the microelectronics industry) website.

So just by looking at these numbers we can tell that DDR3 brings improvement to the game. We can notice an increase in timings which is a downside but in the world or RAM you can't have both low latency and high bandwidth. So manufacturers and standard developers worldwide have come to the conclusion that we will benefit from higher bandwidth at the cost of latency when it comes to DDR3.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME OR MY PC?

Let's put this in simple terms:

i. Let's say you have a DDR2 platform (motherboard) in your computer at the moment (85% of the people still have that in their home or office pc), you notice it becoming slow and you would like to upgrade your computer. Well, in that case you are faced with two options. Do you keep your DDR2 platform and upgrade whatever can be upgraded at a medium-high cost? Or do you change your entire configuration (motherboard, ram, maybe cpu) for a slightly higher cost?

OUR PROFESSIONAL OPINION: The cost of maintaining the DDR2 computer will be higher long term. Because this is what this article is all about, the process of phasing out DDR2. So this means that if you choose to keep your DDR2 platform you will be forced to upgrade again in the near future. At that point DDR2 will be out of the market and maybe even end-of-life product. So you will HAVE to go to DDR3. So what is the point of spending almost double the money in a one-two year timeframe? The advice is to go to DDR3 if you are faced with a major or even minor upgrade. Going to DDR3 now when the prices are levelled out is the best choice. That is because having a current platform in your computer, that will be on the market for at least 5 years from now on, means room for cheap upgrades, reliability, support and speed. It means that if you want to upgrade in 4 years time because you want to play whatever game or you want to run whatever application, it can be done by simply investing a couple of hundred dollars. But not thousands again.

ii. Let's say you want a new computer because you have a very very old one or you simply want a change. You are faced with the same choice. Do you go DDR3 or the cheap DDR2? And this is the time in our article where we would like to issue a warning: 95% of the computers in stores at the moment are built on the "old" DDR2 platform. So with the introduction of DDR3 a while back, the shops are desperate to get rid of the old computers and are dropping the prices fast.

OUR PROFESSIONAL OPINION: DON'T FALL FOR THIS! Why? Because you will be stuck with a machine that will NOT cope with the software demands (programs or games) within the next year or so. And at that point you will have to either upgrade or spend the money on another computer which will most likely be a DDR3 platform. If you will have to upgrade you will find yourself in the situation above mentioned and all-in-all, either way, waste a lot of money.

CONCLUSION:

Please remember one thing... this is the turning point in technology. It is seen in Cameras, TVs, Camcorders, everywhere. Now we have it in computer technology.

And that is why you will see Aliencore Computers implement DDR3 technology in 98% of our computer systems that have not yet been redesigned. We will keep another 2% on DDR2 for the businesses and residential customers that require that kind of technology due to specific software or miscellaneous restrictions.

Please keep an eye on our website for those changes and be amazed on how we can keep the prices close to the same level but still offer state of the art, 'our-of-this-world' computer systems.