DDR PC400 / Dual Channel DDR wonderings

[trasko]

So I just got into hardware for real lately... First post here. So does someone know the answer to these two questions:

1) When is DDR PC3200 (400MHz) supposed to be made a standard (or whatever is done) by JEDEC? Or, if this doesn't matter, how long till we should see chipsets with official DDR PC3200 support (ie SiS 648DX).

On the same "new stuff with DDR" idea:

2) When should we expect dual-channel DDR boards to come out?


AND... what do people think about these 2 options? Should I bother waiting around for 400MHz DDR? Should I skip 400MHz and wait for dual channel? Should I shut up, save some money and do 333MHz? Though I plan to OC somewhat, I don't want to put some current fake 400MHz RAM into a board that doesn't even officially support it... Let me know what you think.

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trasko

 

[CrazySaint]

I'm not sure about when we'll see PC3200 become an official JEDEC standard. Dual channel DDR has been around for the Athlon platform via nForce for about a year now, but unfortunately, the extra bandwidth is wasted on the Athlon. I believe that Intel will introduce DC DDR to the workstation/server market later this year, with consumer DC DDR chipsets following next year. Hammer will initially support DC DDR on the "SledgeHammer" workstation/server chips and single channel DDR333 on the "ClawHammer" consumer chips.

Whether you should wait, what you should wait for, and how long you should wait depends greatly on what you do with your PC and what you currently have. If you have a CPU slower than 800MHz then you might want to just get the best you can get right now (which is pretty darn good) and possibly upgrade again later when faster memory comes out. Also, the current DDR400 that's out is not "fake 400MHz" memory, it is real DDR400 RAM (assuming you don't get OCZ or Geil crap), it just isn't official JEDEC PC3200 RAM. Samsung or Corsair XMS DDR400 RAM is probably the best DDR RAM on the market. As for the board not officially supporting DDR400, that never stopped anybody before

 

[GTaudiophile]

Haha! We got a NEWB here!!!




Edit: You may want to check out this thread for more info on "Granite Bay."

 

[Zaken]

1) Most forums and press releases indicate that ddr pc3200 will most likely not be made a standard by JEDEC because of the anticipated arrival of dual channel ddr. Of course, we've been hearing that since April, so who knows? Also, SiS has reportedly dropped their efforts towards the 648dx to pursue releasing the 655 chipset, but the "unofficial" support of ddr pc3200 is apparently pretty decent. (I'm sure you've seen this review by now http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1708&p=5 ).

2) Along the same lines of pc3200 support, the actual release of dual-channel ddr is anyone's guess. Samsung's "official" word is that an engineering sample will be available in November, so I wouldn't expect boards until next Spring.

I'm with you on the "fake" 400MHz ddr. It is mostly just overclocked pc 2700. The Mushkin and Corsair are supposed to be pretty good. Samsung has true 400MHz (5 ns) chips, and xtremeddr is using them on their sticks (http://www.xtremeddr.com/products/x_DDR400.shtml), I just ordered one, so when I get it in, I'll let you know how it works.


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Zaken

 

[glugglug]

Dual channel DDR has been around a long time now for both Athlon and P4.

See Anand's review of Intel Dual Channel DDR chipset (E7500)

Unfortunately the boards supporting this (besides nForce for Athlon which can't use all that bandwidth anyway) are $400+ for just the motherboard.