Is ddr3 sdram that much better for the money than ddr2 sdram?

Question

I am in the process of building a gaming computer and was wondering what version ram I should get. Will I notice an improvement in with the better ram speeds, or is it just something that will end up costing more than good it will do. Additionally, I read somewhere about an even faster ram type called Rambus DRAM, is that worth the money for the improvement in system performance?

Also, I haven't purchased the motherboard yet, and was wondering if most higher end ($200-$300) motherboards will support the ddr3 sdram memory type, and will I need an even higher end mobo to support RDRAM?

Do these memory types draw more power than the predecessors?

This will be my first build, so any additional advice would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

I will be building a pc.

Thanks for the info so far.

Answer 1

DDR3 may have faster bus speed (Mhz) but it also has a higher latency, which prevents it from having any noticeable performance advantage over current DDR2. This will change in the future, but at the moment DDR3 has no real advantage. And considering how much more expensive it is, it is definately not worth the money.

As for RDRAM, run, run far far away. It is grossly expensive, and its latency is ungodly high. RDRAM has been completely and totally abandonded in the mainstream computer world, you will not see any new motherboards using it.

Answer 2

well take this example, is pedigree dog food better than some crud that you make up yourself.

Answer=yes pedigree is better, especially in the long run for the dog.

Same goes with your ram question. The new ram will help your programs run faster with quicker responses, and it will be useful to have it now so that programs that use DDR3 later on in the future will use it

I don't know about how much the mobo would cost for the DDR3 to work, but the more expensive ones will be able to use it, because most MOBO's are still using DDR2

The DDR3 ram is quite expensive though, if you don't care about price, get DDR3 Dual Channel Ram, much better than SDRAM for a gaming pc, unless you are going to use the ram for a laptop

You never mention if it is a laptop or a pc???