Overclocking with DDR3 Memory - Continued

We compared the prices of the cheapest DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules with 1 GB capacity:

* DDR3-1066 – €160 (CL7, OCZ Gold) * DDR2-800 – €27 (CL5, Aeneon)

With such an extreme price difference that equates to a six-fold markup, it is obvious that the vast majority of users will choose DDR3. Assuming that XMP-certified DDR3 modules will cost even more, since they need to run at higher frequencies, this feature is currently not an incentive to buy an X38 board.

When DDR3 memory is overclocked, its latencies rise immensely, negating any possibly performance boost. The Conroe architecture of the Core 2 microprocessor is optimized for minimal memory access, which is why the current incarnation sports up to 8 MB of L2 cache. The 45 nanometer Penryn CPUs will even contain 12 MB of L2 cache. As a result, the memory will have even less impact on possible performance gains.

As was the case with the P35, the motherboard makers are taking a wait-and-see approach for now due to the limited attractiveness of DDR3 and producing only X38 boards with DDR2 support. This is also true for Gigabyte, the company that provided our X38 review sample. Thus, the XMP functionality is of only limited importance for now.