Why is DDR3 no faster?

Today we look at why DDR3 memory has provided us with no noticeable performance gains over existing DDR2 memory. The reasoning is quite simple really and it has to do with the Core 2 Duo processors lack of need for memory faster than 800MHz. The article investigates this in a little more detail and looks to the future, when DDR3 will become an important memory standard.

For some time now reviewing high-end DDR2 memory modules has almost been boring, as high speed 1000-1200MHz modules really offer nothing new in terms of performance. For a while there we even had trouble getting together CPU and motherboard combos that could overclock far enough to reach some of the incredible DDR2 speeds manufacturers were churning out. After all, there is little point lashing out and buying ultra expensive DDR2 memory capable of 1200MHz if you are not going to run it at a 1:1 ratio with the CPU’s FSB. That being the case, you would need to run the CPU on a 600MHz FSB and there is not exactly a long line of motherboards that can achieve this.

Read on at Legion Hardware.