X-bit labs

Annual Hardware Overview: A Glance Back at the Year 2003 (page 11)

Category: Editorial

by Andy Yaschenko

[ 01/08/2004 | 11:51 PM ]

Yet another small sensation: the price of SDRAM was increasing in 2003 so that PC133 SDRAM is now more expensive than PC3200 DDR SDRAM. This absurd situation is well grounded: SDRAM is widely used in consumer electronics, which is selling quite well, unlike computers.

It was all more interesting with the modules. Of course, memory modules price dropped along with the memory chips price. Quite expectedly, the module manufacturers didn’t like the situation and started a show we saw coming back in 2002. It is called “overclocker modules”. All started out quiet with something like “PC3500” or PC3200 with improved timings. At first, only specialized firms like Mushkin, but then Kingston and Samsung, got involved into this production.

Then the technologies continued improving, and we saw modules like “PC3700”, “PC4000”, “PC4200” and “PC4400” appearing. “Older” modules like “PC3700” also improved their characteristics: extremely high timings became normal. Plus, such modules often come in pairs: for dual-channel memory configurations. Moreover, they have cool looks: gold or platinum coating on aluminum or copper heat-spreaders. Summing up the results of the year, I would name Corsair the winner in this race. By the end of the year, there opened another niche – registered modules for the Athlon 64 FX. This is a specific product for the last year, as we hadn’t seen registered modules in the consumer market before.

Meanwhile, the DDR2 standard was steadily developing without any extravaganza or sensations. In the process, it transpired that DDR2 looks much similar to DDR, so the transition to DDR2 is going to be less advantageous than the SDRAM to DDR SDRAM shift. Anyway, all leading manufacturers are ready to start mass production of DDR2 chips with capacities ranging from 256Mbit to 2Gbit and frequencies of 400-533MHz (PC3200-PC4300). These have all already been tested by Intel for compatibility with the company’s upcoming chipsets.

It’s not quite clear, though, what will become of 667MHz PC5400 as Intel never produced a Pentium processor for 667MHz FSB (and that was the reason for this memory to appear). In all probability, this memory will never show up, and the manufacturers will skip it and pass to 800MHz PC6400. The only uneasy fact with regard to PC3200-PC4300 is how well the packaging and testing infrastructure is ready for DDR2. It would be quite a stupid situation if the manufacturers do ship chips in necessary quantities, but the testing and packaging firms cannot cope with the amounts as they haven’t invested into necessary equipment. This way we could get a grave shortage out of nothing!