There is talk that DDR2 memory is nearing the end of its life, and while this could be true to a certain extent, I believe it to be more of the opposite. While DDR3 is on the horizon and will take memory frequencies well beyond 1GHz, from the time this memory is first released to the time it is adopted, that could still be well over a year from now. After all, DDR2 only properly replaced the original DDR memory last year, despite being released way back in 2004. Now that both AMD and Intel have converted all their platforms, sales of DDR2 memory are much stronger.
These ATI CrossFire Certified memory modules were first announced last September 2006 and since then we have not heard or seen much from these. Other than the marketing spin put in the press release, there has been little information to go on. What we know is that these modules are designed and certified for CrossFire platforms by ATI, and that is about the bulk of it. So other than being 1GB DDR2-800 memory modules designed to operate in dual-channel mode at CAS4-4-4-12 with 2.1 volts, there is not a great deal more we can tell you.
Everyone has been asking what is so special that makes these red modules more qualified to work with CrossFire platforms than the next DDR2-800 memory. Having ourselves asking the same question, we plan to find out if there is a price to be paid for extra compatibility or not.