Difference Between DDR2 and DDR3
DDR2 and DDR3 are owned by DDR SDRAM recent (double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory) family of Ram. These two rams retain data in the similar type of DRAM arrays. The original member of this family was the DDR. DDR was followed by DDR2. And DDR3 is the member who has followed DDR2. These two RAMs are not compatible with other RAM in the series. This means, to change your RAM from one type to another (for example, upgrading RAM from DDR2 to DDR3) you must upgrade your entire motherboard.
What is DDR2?
DDR2 SDRAM is the type of data rate type two synchronous dynamic random access memory. This is the second member of DDR family. However, compared to DDR, DDR2 RAM is not backward compatible. This means you need two types of motherboards for DDR and DDR2 Ram. It uses double pumping for transferring data on both edges of the clock signal (much like DDR). DDR2 RAM provides a performance of four data transfers per clock cycle. So DDR2 can provide a maximum transfer rate of 3200 MB / s (with a base clock speed of 100 MHz).
What is DDR3?
DDR3 SDRAM is the double data rate type three synchronous dynamic random access memory and it’s the big brother of DDR2 SDRAM in the family of DDR. However, DDR3 RAM is not backward compatible with DDR2 (or DDR for that matter) because of differences in the fact indicated, voltages, etc. DDR3 RAM can transfer data at a rate that is twice as fast as the DDR2 RAM. This means that DDR3 can provide the bandwidth higher than DDR2. In fact, DDR3 can go up to a bandwidth of 6200 MB / s (with a base clock speed of 100 MHz).
What is the difference between DDR2 and DDR3?
DDR2 and DDR3 have improved the RAMS belonging to the family of DDR Ram. DDR2 RAM provides 4 data transfers/cycle, while the DDR3 RAM provides 8 data transfers/cycle. This means if the base clock speed is 100 MHz, so the DDR2 RAM provides 3200 MB / s bandwidth, while the DDR3 RAM provide bandwidth of 6400 MB / s. On the other hand, DDR2 RAM used by 1.8V fragment while DDR3 RAM uses 1.5V per fragment. RAM DDR3 supports bus clock 400-1600 Mhz I / O compared to the only MHz 200-800 MHz clock of DDR2 RAM. Thus in general DDR3 RAM is relatively faster and consumes less power.
However, the choice between a DDR2 RAM DDR3 RAM and is not always a decision based on performance. DDR3 rams can not be connected to motherboards with DDR2 Ram. This means, if you have a DDR2 RAM, you must upgrade the motherboard to receive a DDR3 RAM (most of the time) and this could be expensive, too. But in reality, both Intel and AMD have completely committed to DDR3 in the future, meaning that you should upgrade your motherboard to a point (if you still have a DDR2 RAM). Good news is that the price of DDR3 RAM used costlier than DDR2, but it came down slowly and now the two prices around the same price.