Demand for DDR 2 SDRAM has barely begun to exceed DDR levels - the latest generation memory technology is still the more expensive of the two, bit for bit - yet Samsung has already started touting DDR 3.

The South Korean giant this week claimed to have punched out the world's first DDR 3 chip, a 512Mb part clocked at an effective 1066MHz - higher than the 800MHz DDR 2 has so far topped out at.

Samsung pledged to ship the chip early next year, fabricating it using an 80nm process. However, on the basis of market forecasts from researcher IDC, published by Samsung, DDR 3 won't become the predominant memory technology until toward the end of the decade. According to IDC, DDR 3 will account for 65 per cent of DRAM shipments in 2009.

Samsung's prototype device operates at 1.5V, below the 1.8V DDR 2 operates at, making it even more battery friendly. It incorporates self-calibration and data synchronisation circuitry which contribute to a data rate double today's DDR 2 systems. ®

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