PC3200 DDR RAM

PC3200 DDR RAM is an extremely high speed RAM module used by power users looking to gain more speed from their CPUs. Overclocking a microprocessor puts an enormous strain on a system's RAM module. The speed settings can prevent a computer from booting if the RAM is not adequate to handle the load. PC3200 DDR RAM is fast enough to prevent that from happening.

When Intel first came out with its PC100 standard, the naming convention was fairly intuitive. PC100 RAM supports 100Mhz bus speeds; PC133 RAM supports 133Mhz bus speeds. The new naming convention does not refer directly to the bus speed. Instead, it refers to an estimate of the maximum bandwidth that the module can achieve.

Calculating PC3200 DDR RAM Speeds

PC3200 DDR RAM is DDR RAM that supports bus speeds of 200Mhz. That speed can be doubled (DDR RAM reads data on the system clock uptake and writes data on the downtick), making the supportable bus speed 400Mhz. It is theoretically capable of 3.2GB of bandwidth per second (hence the 3200 designation.)

As is the case with other types of RAM, you must make sure that your computer and motherboard will support PC3200 DDR RAM. Older computers are not capable of handling recent RAM modules, and even some recent computers are not capable of using PC3200 DDR RAM. Consult the manual for your computer if you are unsure about your computer's compatibility.