Developed by JEDEC and championed by Intel, DDR2 isn’t just DDR running at higher speeds with the number "2" tagged on the end. Yes it runs faster, starting at the 400MHz threshold where DDR currently ends, but there are other important technologies implemented into its design. Where the early offerings failed to impress though was in their latency ratings. Faster though the memory was, much of that speed was wasted as the module sat idle waiting for data to be read or written, more so than was the case with DDR. This in turn meant that lower speed DDR2 parts were often slower in real terms than their DDR predecessors. Fortunately, we’re now seeing frequencies increase and latencies begin to fall, a combination that will redress the balance and enable DDR2 to shine.