DDR2 and DDR3 what's the difference?

spaceboy

Obviously DDR3 is better but by how much and can a computer that takes DDR2 take DDR3 and get the benefit?

asininity

Power consumption is the main difference along with highter speeds overall and bigger band width. DDR3 being better.

JasX

does this help?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bandwidths#Memory_Interconnect.2FRAM_buses

spaceboy

JasX wrote: »

does this help?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_device_bandwidths#Memory_Interconnect.2FRAM_buses

Only slightly.

prowla

Basically, go to Crucial and put in your PC's details, and it'll tell you whay your options are.

gonzo127

just one thing to point out, very few motherboards have been made which support both DDR2 and DDR3 you would therefore be unlikely to be able to just swap out DDR2 and put in new DDR3,

if you do have a motherboard which can use either you would notice a slight difference in intensive tasks however most basic tasks would not noticeably benefit

quietishone

DDR2 and DDR3 memory have the same number of pins and are the same length but the notches are in different places and most motherboards can only take one or the other (the Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R can take both and this has been used for the comparison tests I've seen in some magazines). Usually you choose which motherboard you are going to buy/already have and then add compatible memory.