Even with first DDR3 memory modules already being taped, DDR2 is going to stay with for some time, industry sources suggested today. The information we received is in line with what we have heard from memory manufacturers that the transition from DDR2 to DDR3 will happen in a much more conservative way than what we have seen with DDR and DDR2.

DDR3 will be supported by Intel sometime in the second half of 2007 and will coexist with DDR2 for more than a year. 800 MHz will be the bridging clock speed that serves as the technology to transition from DDR2-800 to DDR3-800 on most platforms. By mid of 2009, Intel is expected to have completed the transition to DDR3 memory and will most likely use 1333 MHz as the standard technology.

And exception may be the server platform which Intel announced in the past will use fully-0buffered memory (FB-DIMM) in the future. Given the transitional state of DDR2 memory, however, the first generation of FB memory modules could very well serve as a short-lived technology, which quickly moves into second-generation, DDR3-based FB-DIMMs as early as 2008.

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