So DDR-II is coming for system memory ... and I simply do not understand.
I know that DDR-II has greater bandwidth potential at the cost of higher latency. So, DDR-II has frequency headroom for nextgen gighertz CPUs ... when they eventually arrive. AMD says they will not support DDR-II until 2006, and Intel will remain stagnant in CPU clockspeed until they can implement the IP they traded NVIDIA for the P4 FSB license--anywhere from 6-18 months from the day they inked that deal, depending on how much Intel had already infringed on the NVIDIA patents.
Yet DDR-II on graphics card was a complete bust: expensive, and way too hot for the performance. NVIDIA and ATI moved directly to DDR3 without much of a stop at DDR-II. Anyone remember the FX 5700/5800 or 9800Pro models with DDR-II? You can't replace the factory RAM cooler with anything except a waterblock, because DDR-II RAMs get too hot. Consumer aftermarket aircooled RAMsinks don't have anough radiating surface to keep DDR-II memories within spec--at least none I tried.
So WTF is this with system RAMs going DDR-II? With economy of scale the expense differential of course will disappear, but it still seems like using DDR-II as main memory (instead of DDR3) is beneficial only to the aftermarket cooling scene, because system memory module coolers will actually become necessary.
I know that DDR-II has greater bandwidth potential at the cost of higher latency. So, DDR-II has frequency headroom for nextgen gighertz CPUs ... when they eventually arrive. AMD says they will not support DDR-II until 2006, and Intel will remain stagnant in CPU clockspeed until they can implement the IP they traded NVIDIA for the P4 FSB license--anywhere from 6-18 months from the day they inked that deal, depending on how much Intel had already infringed on the NVIDIA patents.
Yet DDR-II on graphics card was a complete bust: expensive, and way too hot for the performance. NVIDIA and ATI moved directly to DDR3 without much of a stop at DDR-II. Anyone remember the FX 5700/5800 or 9800Pro models with DDR-II? You can't replace the factory RAM cooler with anything except a waterblock, because DDR-II RAMs get too hot. Consumer aftermarket aircooled RAMsinks don't have anough radiating surface to keep DDR-II memories within spec--at least none I tried.
So WTF is this with system RAMs going DDR-II? With economy of scale the expense differential of course will disappear, but it still seems like using DDR-II as main memory (instead of DDR3) is beneficial only to the aftermarket cooling scene, because system memory module coolers will actually become necessary.