Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Memory > DDR2 vs DDR3 ?

DDR2 vs DDR3 ?

Forum Motherboards & Memory : Memory - DDR2 vs DDR3 ?

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
Jerg   09-29-2007 at 07:47:16 PM

Hi everyone, I'm trying to find some informations over the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 performance. It seems like everyone who is building a new computer lately is still using DDR2, but wouldnt it be better to switch to DDR3 ? Now, I know the price difference is huge between the two, but is it the only reason ?

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
Maziar   09-29-2007 at 08:20:03 PM
- 0 +

another :
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/m [...] /ddr3.html

------------------------------ Q6600@3.4+ TT V1 Cooler,SAPPHIRE HD 4870X2,ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA,4GB OCZ DDR2 800,LG W2452V 1920x1200
 Reply to Maziar
runswindows95   09-29-2007 at 08:24:42 PM
- 0 +

http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 834,00.asp

It's not worth the premium for about a 2% increase in performance.

Reply to runswindows95
Jerg   09-29-2007 at 09:24:30 PM
- 0 +

Thx for the infos !

Reply to Jerg
chuckshissle   09-29-2007 at 10:16:22 PM
- 0 +

As for desktop systems right now, there is no difference in performace. You'll only pay big time for DDR3 and few programs and I doubt any games soon will take advantage of this. As for servers and workstations these new DDR3 will be very good but not for regular pc. We should see some major desktop uses for DDR3 maybe summer next year as motherboard manufacturers and softwares and games developers will be taking advantage with DDR3 higher bandwith.

As for today, the best ram you can get are the DDR2 800 for record lows of around $70-$80. Great for todays desktops and overclocking as well without breaking your bank account.

Reply to chuckshissle
bydesign   09-30-2007 at 01:40:56 AM
- 0 +

Umm, why would you think that? Servers don't normally us DDR ram in the first place. Unless DDR latency comes way down it's not going to make a difference. GPU's manufactures already figured this out and are moving to DDR4. The motherboard manufactures seem pretty sceptical too as it looks like they are hold off on DDR3 for the X38 because of poor sales.

Reply to bydesign
afm813   07-20-2008 at 07:54:48 AM
- 0 +

Noobie Question- If I upgrade my CPU with a GeForce 8800 GT Video Card with specs that indicates that the Memory Type is GDDR3, can I still use my old DDR2 Memory? Are they compatible or do I need to buy DDR3 Memory only? If you can use DDR2 with a DDR3 graphics/video card, why don't it say they're compatible?
Thanks in advance for any input.


Message edited by afm813 on 07-20-2008 at 08:13:37 AM
Reply to afm813
descendency   07-20-2008 at 08:29:10 AM
- 0 +

Your system ram and your graphics card RAM have nothing to do with one another. As long as your motherboard has a port to support the graphics card, it should run fine.

To "prove" this, just look at the modern ATi card, the 4870, which uses GDDR5. DDR5 system RAM is quite a ways off.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to descendency
afm813   07-21-2008 at 05:46:00 AM
- 0 +

descendency wrote :

Your system ram and your graphics card RAM have nothing to do with one another. As long as your motherboard has a port to support the graphics card, it should run fine.

To "prove" this, just look at the modern ATi card, the 4870, which uses GDDR5. DDR5 system RAM is quite a ways off.



Thank you for the clarification, descendency! :D

Reply to afm813
Kandybar_86   04-20-2009 at 04:55:27 AM
- 0 +

It's been a few months now: so is DDR3 RAM now worth it? Are there more software that can take advantage of this newer format?

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to Kandybar_86
theAnimal   04-20-2009 at 08:06:07 AM
- 0 +

Kandybar_86 wrote :

It's been a few months now: so is DDR3 RAM now worth it? Are there more software that can take advantage of this newer format?



No, and not applicable.

------------------------------ *How To Ask For New Build Advice*
HAF 922 | HX750
Rampage2Gene | i7 920 D0 | 6GB Gold 1600 | Hyper 212+
Caviar Black 640GB | HD3870
 Reply to theAnimal
begginer   07-04-2009 at 12:11:46 PM
- 0 +

So there is still no obvious difference between DDR2 1333 and DDR3 2200+?

Reply to begginer
Bronze Motherboards badge GhislainG   07-04-2009 at 11:41:22 PM
- 0 +

DDR3 2200+ is much more expensive.

Reply to GhislainG
begginer   07-15-2009 at 07:54:30 AM
- 0 +

would it be a good idea to get DDR3 now so the motherboard will be future proof? I will want to have the motherboard for at least 3 years.

Reply to begginer
Bronze Motherboards badge GhislainG   07-15-2009 at 01:34:11 PM
- 0 +

How will DDR3 make it more future proof? A DDR2 motherboard is as future proof as a DDR3 motherboard. DDR2 will be available for several years simply because most AMD and Intel 775 motherboards still use DDR2.

Reply to GhislainG
gamerk316   07-15-2009 at 02:28:50 PM
- 0 +

Simple solution:

i7 or AM3: Use DDR3 (no choice)
AM2+ (or below) or LGA775: Use DDR2 (no gain using DDR3)

------------------------------ http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/622598.png
 Reply to gamerk316
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Motherboards & Memory > Memory > DDR2 vs DDR3 ?
Go to:

There are 1231 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.346 seconds
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them