DDR3 worth it?

[PeteRoy]

Is DDR3 1600Mhz a lot faster than DDR2 800Mhz? Is the difference noticeable in games?

I am trying to find articles about that, anyone have links?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Nope, not worth it now.

 

[Quiksilver]

No.

 

[Cutthroat]

Not worth it yet, but it's getting close. I've seen some good deals on DDR3 lately.

But with today's Core 2's and socket 775 motherboards it will never be worth it, not enough performance increase for the price. When Nehalem comes out and there is a new socket and IMC you will need DDR3 and it looks like the prices will be OK by then.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Currently the amount of memory is more important for quality gaming than sheer speed.

AN804 is a good read: http://www.corsairmemory.com/appnotes/default.aspx

 

[GundamF91]

not yet, wait for faster DDR3, otherwise it's pointless.

 

[PeteRoy]

So 1600Mhz DDR3 is not twice as fast compared to 800Mhz DDR2?

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: PeteRoy
So 1600Mhz DDR3 is not twice as fast compared to 800Mhz DDR2?

It's quite about the same speed really. DDR3 uses very high latencies over DDR2, so even if the frequency doubles, the speed takes a big hit because of the latency.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: PeteRoy
So 1600Mhz DDR3 is not twice as fast compared to 800Mhz DDR2?

It's quite about the same speed really. DDR3 uses very high latencies over DDR2, so even if the frequency doubles, the speed takes a big hit because of the latency.

This is not completely accurate. Latencies don't affect the current Intel platforms nearly as much as they used to. And, the latencies scale proportionally with frequency.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: PeteRoy
So 1600Mhz DDR3 is not twice as fast compared to 800Mhz DDR2?

In the abstract, DDR3 is capable of running twice as fast. The issue is that current Intel platforms don't have much of anything to use that speed for, so it translates into very little real-world performance difference.

 

[Errez]

nope not at all

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: PeteRoy
So 1600Mhz DDR3 is not twice as fast compared to 800Mhz DDR2?

It's quite about the same speed really. DDR3 uses very high latencies over DDR2, so even if the frequency doubles, the speed takes a big hit because of the latency.

That's the same argument people used for not going to DDR2.

While it is somewhat true, DDR3 is going to be slightly faster than DDR2 the majority of the time, unless you are comparing a high end DDR2 kit to a low end DDR3 one.

All that said, i agree DDR3 really isn't worth it for the average user right now.

Nehalem will be what really ushers in the DDR3 era, & that's still a ways a way for most of us.

 

[btdvox]

Its funny because most people still prefer lower latencies instead of speed. Fact is most new games utilize faster speeds than lower latency- other than HL2.

Worth it is depending on cash flow.

a 4 GB G Skill kit DDR3-1600 @ 7-7-7-18 is going for 275. I paid 200 bucks for DDR2-1200 5-5-5-12 ram a year ago which is now 100 bucks (SUCKS!) But thats the way tech is...

So If you want better performance- than yes.
Supposedly that kit can run DDR3-1800 @ 7-7-7-18 @ 1T w/1.9 volts