DDR vs. RAMBUS

[old.mike15]

Whats the better memory? I hear a lot of people pushing the DDR now but not totally sure the diff on the two types.

 

[Embattle]

RDRAM has higher bandwidth but it also has a higher latency.

DDR ram has a slightly lower bandwidth but better latency.

Both are good although generally RDRAM is more expensive than DDR ram.

 

[old.mike15]

So in buying a new system which should I go with. I like a cheaper price but if rdram is much better than it is worth paying for it

 

[Embattle]

TBH both come out even on performance considering the two factors so go for the cheaper.

 

[old.mike15]

Sounds good

 

[Wij]

If you can find DDR333 sticks then get a mobo based on a 645 chipset and use that. If not then 850 chipset is fast but a bit expensive with the RDRAM. 845 chipset is slightly cheaper using DDR266 (PC2100) but is slightly slower.

 

[old.mike15]

ok ill look for fast + cheap first with the ddr. And if I cant get that ill probably just pay the extra and go for the rdram.

 

[Wij]

Just read the other thread... since you mentioned RDRAM I assumed you were talking about P4s. If you were gonna get an Athlon then you should know that no chipset for AMD processors supports RDRAM atm. For Athlons you want DDR 266 (PC2100). There is a mobo which supports DDR333 but that doesn't help on an Athlon system atm since the FSB is 266. However you could buy DDR333 and run it at 266 for now then when mobos come out which support 333 PROPERLY you won't have to throw your memory away.

 

[old.mike15]

yea I understand and there is a good chance im gonna go with amd but I havent totally ruled out p4.

 

[FuZor]

nice... you learn something everyday!

 

[old.mike15]

yea that holds true for this board