No DDR3 memory this year

Information technology people are anxiously awaiting the market for faster third-generation DRAM computer memory chips - DDR3 - of the future, will have to wait until the middle of next year to use them, representative of Intel claims.

The market is not ready to take on the third generation of high-speed (DDR3) third-generation main memory, said Richard Malinowski, CEO of Intel's chipset division, yesterday.

The company's latest chipset family, called 965, will only use DDR2 RAM (2nd generation), and abandon the first generation DDR memory chip.

Many types of main currently use DDR2 RAM.( Photo: schottenland )

DDR3 news not coming to market this year is astonishing because DDR2 has become a popular type of dynamic RAM chip (DRAM). But some people are disappointed because DDR3 is already in some of the latest graphics cards to achieve the best performance for the latest graphics processors. Moreover, some memory chip manufacturers have already made DDR3 DRAM. All lead is waiting for a set of chipsets to connect them to the processors.

Qimonda, Nanya Technology and A-Data Technology all released DDR3 memory chips for desktop computers at Computex IT taking place in Taipei, Taiwan, this week.

Qimonda, the company separated from German chip maker Infineon Technologies AG, said its 1GB DDR3 memory chip is targeted at desktops, which will then take servers and laptops.

" With this technology, the design of RAM for desktops is often the easiest, " said Emmy Ko, a Qimonda engineer.

Suitable laptop

DDR3 gives faster speeds than DDR2 and consumes less power. So, developing this RAM for laptops is essential. Over the past year, DDR2 has been widely used in servers and laptops compared to desktop computers. Computer manufacturers like to use first generation memory chips, DDR, because the cost is lower than DDR2. However, laptop manufacturers prefer DDR2 because it consumes less power and servers (servers) need DDR2 because the server's criteria are that RAM must be both fast and power efficient.

Nanya Technology is exhibiting DDR3 memory chips with capacities of 512 MB and 1 GB, and said it expects to commercialize them before 2007. " We can launch DDR3 sample products in the second quarter. "But not yet mass- produced," said David Hu, product manager for Nanya with Elixir's memory chip brand.

A-Data launched the DDR3 model also for desktop PCs with two capacities of 512 MB and 1 GB. The company said it has released these models early on in an attempt to guide motherboard developers, said Tristan Wei, A-Data's marketing director.