Just got word that the guys over @ Lostcircuits.com have posted their look at DDR II technology.
So what are the magic ingredients (besides a new name, Jen Hsun) that makes DDR II wiggle so much faster than DDR I? More importantly, we have heard all the rumors of DDR II being backward compatible with DDR I but we also heard the opposite. For the graphics card manufacturers, the compatibility may not be such a crucial factor but what will happen to the consumer who wants to upgrade his memory to DDR II on an existing mainboard? Last not least, since there is no such thing as a free lunch, will DDR II be more expensive than current DDR (I) or what other trade-offs will there be e.g. in terms of latency vs. bandwidth?
So what are the magic ingredients (besides a new name, Jen Hsun) that makes DDR II wiggle so much faster than DDR I? More importantly, we have heard all the rumors of DDR II being backward compatible with DDR I but we also heard the opposite. For the graphics card manufacturers, the compatibility may not be such a crucial factor but what will happen to the consumer who wants to upgrade his memory to DDR II on an existing mainboard? Last not least, since there is no such thing as a free lunch, will DDR II be more expensive than current DDR (I) or what other trade-offs will there be e.g. in terms of latency vs. bandwidth?