Japanese Buffalo Ltd. anounced that it will ship its first DDR3 memory modules in Japan by the end of the month. The company's lineup includes a pair of two 512GB modules (2x of 512MB), priced at 78,750 yen (), a single 1GB module available for 74,550 yen as well as a 2GB set (2x1GB) that is expected to cost 148,050 yen.



The DDR3 memory standard is considered as the successor of the DDR2 SDRAM. The memory promises of a power consumption reduction of 40% compared to current DDR2 modules, allowing for lower operating currents and voltages (1.5 V, compared to DDR2's 1.8 V). "Dual-gate" transistors will be used to reduce leakage of current. In addition, DDR3's prefetch buffer width is 8 bit, whereas DDR2's is 4 bit, and DDR's is 2 bit.

Buffalo's new modules run at 1,066MHz and maintain the 240-pin DIMM interface of DDR2.

Intel has preliminarily announced that they expect to be able to offer support for it in mid 2007 with a version of their upcoming Bearlake chipset. AMD's roadmap indicates their own adoption of DDR3 to come in 2008.