Memory Prices: Even 4GB Kits are $50/GB
Commodity unregistered, unbuffered DDR and, even more so now, DDR2 SDRAM memory has finally dropped to sub-$50/GB now. DDR2 can even be had for as low as $20-30 after rebate for a single 1GB 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM DIMM, and sub-$50 for a 1GB DDR2 notebook SO-DIMM.
As DDR2 has become the sole memory type sold in new notebook computers since mid last year (both AMD Socket-S1/638 and Intel Socket-M-P/478), and it's hard to find a new desktop with anything but DDR2 -- both AMD (Socket-AM2/940) and Intel (LGA-775) -- DDR2 has correspondingly become more commodity and dropped more than DDR. As such, if you are assembling a new system, recycling DDR is less and less of a consideration, with 2GB DDR kits (2x1GB) as low as $70-80 without any rebates (around $100 in notebook SO-DIMMs). If you only had 1GB or 512MB, it's a no-brainer, as 1GB DDR kits (2x512MB) are $40-50, and 512MB not even worth saving (or buying, you might as well go to 1GB/2x512MB or 2GB/2x1GB for the price).
Even 4GB Kits, like the Patriot PSD24G667K (2x2GB) DDR2-667 (PC2-5300) CAS5 are now $200 ($50/GB) as of mid-May (which I bought for my Linux workstation at work, run development suites as well as VMWare for test Linux installs and Windows when I need it -- should work on a stock Intel 945 chipset at 1.8V). So if you're looking to "future proof" your density, definitely look at 2GB/DIMM DDR2 options. More than 1GB/DIMM is difficult to secure in DDR, and can be non-standard. DDR-400 (PC-3200) also only allows one (1) DIMM per channel per JEDEC specifications, and use of two (2) DIMMs per channel drops the signaling back to DDR-333 (PC-2700). The standard, commodity 240-pin DDR2 interface is designed with addressing densities up to 4GB or even 8GB/DIMM, so there is that upgrade path. Again, density is an important consideration as JEDEC specifications don't allow more than one (1) DIMM per channel at higher signaling (like DDR-400/PC-3200 or most DDR2/PC2 speeds).
Side Note: To use more DIMMs per channel, you're looking at other platforms -- mainly not-so-commodity AMD (LGA-1207) and Intel (LGA-771) workstation/server with Fully Buffered (FB) DIMMs, which use eight (8) 32-bit (36-bit ECC) banks -- equivalent to four (4) 64-bit (72-bit ECC) DIMMs -- per channel.
The main thing to beware with DDR2/PC2 DIMMs, as I highlighted in my Spring 2007 PC Assembler's Quick Guide, is voltage. JEDEC specifications state the voltage for DDR2 is 1.8V. Most vendors follow this specification for DDR2-533/PC2-4200 through as low as 4-4-4-12 timing, and a few others may for DDR2-667/PC2-5300 through as low as 5-5-5-15 timing, but many violate it for "low timed" DDR2-667/PC2-5300 and especially so for DDR2-800/PC2-6400 timed below 6-6-6-18. These latter DIMMs may require 1.9V or even higher (and many will require 1.9V to just get 6-6-6-18 at DDR2-800, when they work fine at 1.8V and 5-5-5-15 for DDR2-667). While many "enthusiast" mainboards can typically over-volt the DIMMs, possibly without pre-configuration or reseting the CMOS jumper after changing them out, these non-standard timings in the SPD can have real issues with standard, mainstream OEM PCs and other mainboards. As always, check the reviews first to see if the non-overclockers are having issues (those with stock Intel mainboards -- which most PC OEMs use -- are always good litmus tests).
Otherwise you may be pre-setting the DIMMs to manual settings for lower signaling/higher timing speeds before putting them in -- assuming these aren't your first DDR2 DIMMs (and have another pair to boot with). You may be SOL and doing some RMAs (assuming your reseller is open to such when the part is just incompatible, but not defective) for a replacement product.
As DDR2 has become the sole memory type sold in new notebook computers since mid last year (both AMD Socket-S1/638 and Intel Socket-M-P/478), and it's hard to find a new desktop with anything but DDR2 -- both AMD (Socket-AM2/940) and Intel (LGA-775) -- DDR2 has correspondingly become more commodity and dropped more than DDR. As such, if you are assembling a new system, recycling DDR is less and less of a consideration, with 2GB DDR kits (2x1GB) as low as $70-80 without any rebates (around $100 in notebook SO-DIMMs). If you only had 1GB or 512MB, it's a no-brainer, as 1GB DDR kits (2x512MB) are $40-50, and 512MB not even worth saving (or buying, you might as well go to 1GB/2x512MB or 2GB/2x1GB for the price).
Even 4GB Kits, like the Patriot PSD24G667K (2x2GB) DDR2-667 (PC2-5300) CAS5 are now $200 ($50/GB) as of mid-May (which I bought for my Linux workstation at work, run development suites as well as VMWare for test Linux installs and Windows when I need it -- should work on a stock Intel 945 chipset at 1.8V). So if you're looking to "future proof" your density, definitely look at 2GB/DIMM DDR2 options. More than 1GB/DIMM is difficult to secure in DDR, and can be non-standard. DDR-400 (PC-3200) also only allows one (1) DIMM per channel per JEDEC specifications, and use of two (2) DIMMs per channel drops the signaling back to DDR-333 (PC-2700). The standard, commodity 240-pin DDR2 interface is designed with addressing densities up to 4GB or even 8GB/DIMM, so there is that upgrade path. Again, density is an important consideration as JEDEC specifications don't allow more than one (1) DIMM per channel at higher signaling (like DDR-400/PC-3200 or most DDR2/PC2 speeds).
Side Note: To use more DIMMs per channel, you're looking at other platforms -- mainly not-so-commodity AMD (LGA-1207) and Intel (LGA-771) workstation/server with Fully Buffered (FB) DIMMs, which use eight (8) 32-bit (36-bit ECC) banks -- equivalent to four (4) 64-bit (72-bit ECC) DIMMs -- per channel.
The main thing to beware with DDR2/PC2 DIMMs, as I highlighted in my Spring 2007 PC Assembler's Quick Guide, is voltage. JEDEC specifications state the voltage for DDR2 is 1.8V. Most vendors follow this specification for DDR2-533/PC2-4200 through as low as 4-4-4-12 timing, and a few others may for DDR2-667/PC2-5300 through as low as 5-5-5-15 timing, but many violate it for "low timed" DDR2-667/PC2-5300 and especially so for DDR2-800/PC2-6400 timed below 6-6-6-18. These latter DIMMs may require 1.9V or even higher (and many will require 1.9V to just get 6-6-6-18 at DDR2-800, when they work fine at 1.8V and 5-5-5-15 for DDR2-667). While many "enthusiast" mainboards can typically over-volt the DIMMs, possibly without pre-configuration or reseting the CMOS jumper after changing them out, these non-standard timings in the SPD can have real issues with standard, mainstream OEM PCs and other mainboards. As always, check the reviews first to see if the non-overclockers are having issues (those with stock Intel mainboards -- which most PC OEMs use -- are always good litmus tests).
Otherwise you may be pre-setting the DIMMs to manual settings for lower signaling/higher timing speeds before putting them in -- assuming these aren't your first DDR2 DIMMs (and have another pair to boot with). You may be SOL and doing some RMAs (assuming your reseller is open to such when the part is just incompatible, but not defective) for a replacement product.
5 comments:
Too bad FB-DIMMs (for my MacPro at work) are still so expensive. That said, 3gb is working pretty good for me.
Three (3) days in. No issues with the i945 chipset in a Dell GX620. Windows XP under VMWare boots in literally 15 seconds now, instead of 3 minutes -- just by upping the memory reservation from 512MB to 1024MB, and now telling it doesn't have to swap out memory for the VM. And it's 10x faster to use too.
If you only need DDR2-533/PC2-4200, Frys.COM has the Patriot PSD24G533K kit (4GG kit, 2x2GB) for $160 - $40 rebate good through 5/24:
http://www.frys.com/product/5247577
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Joannah
http://transcendmemory.net
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