Some of the figures seem hard to believe, but on the other hand this was 2001. The first 1GHz chip hit shelves in 2000 (?). So 18 cycles then was (very roughly)

Some of the figures seem hard to believe, but on the other hand this was 2001. The first 1GHz chip hit shelves in 2000 (?). So 18 cycles then was (very roughly) 100 cycles now. That puts us more in the ballpark. (At 3.3GHz, it's around 200 cycles) Then add in, if my memory serves DDR was lower latency than DDR3.