DDR2 Finally Crowned DRAM King
 

After a much longer-than-expected delay, double data rate, second generation (DDR2) has finally taken over as the most popular memory chip used in PCs.

The crossover to DDR2 from the previous mainstream chip, double data rate, 400MHz (DDR-400) took place this week on both the spot DRAM market and the contract market, industry researcher DRAMeXchange Technology said Wednesday.

It’s been a long time coming. The chips entered the market far later than expected, mainly due to heat problems. In fact, DDR-400, which has reigned as industry leader for the past few years, was supposed to be a stopgap chip with such a short life span that some companies hadn’t even planned to support it with a chipset.