Corsair DDR3 Memory Product Preview @ a Smoking 2GHz @ [H]

Corsair First Official Licensee for Intel's DDR3 XMP Spec

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced they have been licensed by Intel to use the new Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) certification logo. The certification will apply to the latest DDR3 modules offered by Corsair and specifically programmed with the new Intel XMP specification. Through a significant partnership effort between system manufactures, motherboard suppliers and memory manufactures, the Intel Extreme Memory Profile specification is part of a complete eco-system architecture designed for the enthusiast PC user.
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eco-system architecture - oh my, I just do not know where to begin with that. Hopefully Intel marketing came up with that one and your guy just parroted it. I think I will use this old HP A4331A 20 inch monitor as a deadfall crush trap for squirrels, thats much more eco than tossing it in a landfil and I can then still consider it part of my computing eco-system architecture.
 
Just make certain that you consume or utilize 100% of the squirrel so that there is no waste. And, I have no idea who coined the phrase but, if I had to guess it is Intel's doing.
 
sounds like they were referring to having a system that worked together for the enthusiast, not being eco friendly.
 
So one thing that the article didn't cover that I was hoping for was a little more discussion on how DDR3 works. Why is it that it can run so much faster than DDR or DDR2? What does the increased latency actually mean; does the increased data rate offset the larger latency cycle counts?

I decided to try to answer these questions myself, and here's what I found:

The DDR technology is simply the ability to transfer data on both the rising and falling edge of a clock signal (in this case it was the front-side bus signal rate), thus Doubling the Data Rate. Furthermore, if wikipedia is to be believed (and that's not an entirely negligible 'if'), DDR2 and DDR3 add a second multiplier, but in this case it runs the memory modules at 1/2 or 1/4 the rate of the I/O Bus (front-side bus), effectively allowing us to boost our bus rate without burning out the memory chips. This means those memory chips still run at the same 100-200Mhz range they've been running at since I can remember.

This information means that my second question really transforms into: Which clock time do the latency numbers apply to? Does CAS 5 mean we wait for 5 cycles of the memory clock, the I/O Bus clock, or the effective data rate clock? The answer to this question then determines how much latency in units of time occurs in DDR2 and DDR3 ram. I thought this a prudent question to answer since everyone keeps saying these technologies sacrificed latency for frequency without explaining why.

By way of example: Suppose we have a PC2-6400 (DDR2-800) memory module with a CAS latency of 4.
The memory clock runs at: 200Mhz (5ns intervals)
The I/O Bus clock runs at: 400Mhz (2.5ns intervals)
The Data rate is: 800Mhz (1.25ns intervals)

Now compare this with a PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600) memory module with a CAS latency of 8.
The memory clock runs at: 200Mhz (5ns intervals)
The I/O Bus clock runs at: 800Mhz (1.25ns intervals)
The Data rate is: 1600Mhz (0.625ns intervals)

If the memory clock controls the latency then the DDR2 has a latency of 20ns and DDR3 has 40ns, and that seems really quite lengthy.
If the I/O Bus clock controls the latency then both DDR2 and DDR3 have a latency of 10ns, implying that latency scales down with increased Bus rate, which seems to be what most people are hoping for.
If the data rate frequency controls the latency (which seems rediculous, but I'll include it for completeness), then both modules have a latency of 5ns.

So, ye experts that lurk herein:
Which clock time do the latency numbers apply to?

Cheers,

The Hanker Chief
 
I wouldnt worry too much about DDR2 or 3 with the much faster DDR5 coming of age unless you need to buy now
 
Mebbe we should ask Kyle. It is getting a bit dated, especially considering we should be producing a PC2133 part next week. But, we do appreciate the exposure.
 
Higher frequencies and higher latencies and this stuff still doesn't beat DDR2. The only thing its good for is lowering the price of DDR2.
 
Now it's only a matter of waiting for a stable reasonable low price after Corsair releases them.
 
Corsair has already released these modules to market. But for those of you not entirely experienced with system memory, the higher speeds are intended for overclockers and performance enthusiasts above everything else. The FPS difference in video games is [H]ardly worth the effort, as we have tested 1066MHz DDR3 to offer only 3 FPS less than 1900MHz DDR3. For the record though, I am using the Corsair PC3-14400 DDR3 1800MHz 2GB RAM Kit in my own system.
 
"The other factor that directly relates is price. $150 will get you 4 gigs of quality DDR2 memory. You will pay double to triple that, in order to get 2 gigs of quality DDR3. This is the reason why Asus, Abit, DFI, MSI, and Gigabyte will all offer DDR2 based X38 motherboards. No one is going to pay huge premiums for DDR3 if there's not a decent performance increase over DDR2."

How's this for some Corsair DDR3 1333

http://www.compusa.com/applications...=BIZUSA&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjCmtB5ObkkzCjCVqHCjCdwwp

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3642209&Sku=C13-8052
 
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