To DDR or not to DDR, that is the question...

[Guest]

Is DDR living up to the hype? Should I dump my SDRAM board and purchase a new DDR compatible board? I am looking at the A7M266 from ASUS.

 

[mbaha]

If you already have a AMD system and all you need is the board and ram I would not. That’s like a $400 upgrade, if you want more speed get a new chip or a better video card or more bells and whistles like a burner, dvd, big ass monitor, that thing where the mouse is attached to head so you move around in games by moving your head or some other new toy.
mbaha


“Build your own you will love it more”

 

[Guest]

I do not have an AMD system. I am still plugging along with my PII 450. I am looking at a complete mainboard and processor upgrade. I am definately going with at least a 1.2G Athalon, I just can't decide weather to pay twice as much for the mainboard and memory for DDR, or just stick with SDRAM and pay less for both the board and memory. I have to admit, my main drive for upgrading is FlightSim 2000 and soon 2002. Pretty pathetic eh??

 

[nicewar]

depending on what you have to spend, I'll assume you want to stay reasonable, I'd skip the DDR and spend the money on a high end video card like the G2 Ultra. If you got the cash, get both.

 

[mbaha]

It depends on your budget then I would spec both systems and see if you think it worth it. Personally I would do with a 1.2gig t-bird “c” with the 266 mhz fsb and a a7v133 and 256-512 megs ram. If you are in to gaming then a gf2 GTS or better card.
Here is a review of some ddr boards they have a asus a7v133 in there too for a base line so it gives you a good idea of what you can expect from ddr over sdram
http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q1/010314/

mbaha


“Build your own you will love it more”

 

[Guest]

The price difference between DDR and non-DDR is fairly small (check K7T266 motherboard from MSI, and check Micron Crucial for the best and cheapest DDR memory around). If you're building a new system from scratch, go with DDR. Especially, if you're gonna have 1.33 GHz Athlon or higher. The performance increase over non-DDR gets more and more significant with the higher CPU clocks.

Leo

 

[mpjesse]

Yeah- you might as well start out with DDR because it's come down a lot. you can get PC2100 DDR SDRAM (128megs) for 79 bucks now. DDR is the future with Athlon's and maybe even the P4.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Suck"<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by mpjesse on 04/01/01 03:27 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

All good advice, thanks. I decided to go for it, after all what are tax refunds for! I ordered a K7T266 Pro motherboard from MSI today. I found some CAS 2 memory, it's a bit pricey but I want to get the best this time. I will be ordering a Goeforce 2 Ultra or Geoforce 3 in a few weeks. I want to see the reviews for the GF 3 before I decide. Hopefully by the time I am finished I will have a rocket! Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[mpjesse]

www.anandtech.com has a review of the GeForce 3. The important thing about the GF3 to remember is that it's more of a card based on new features in 3D graphics than it is based on FPS. It's not all that much faster than an Ultra- but upcoming games build around the GF3 will barely run on an Ultra.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Suck"

 

[mwgorecki]

Dude, I too have a PII 450 and JUST bought the Asus A7M266 with 512 MB of DDR memory from Crucial. The memory is $219.40 including shipping!!

sz

 

[Guest]

I just received my 256MB PC2100 sticks from Crucial today! Now I just have to get the rest of the PC. I went ahead and ordered the MSI K7T266 Pro (MS 6380), it should be here any day. Now I need a good power supply, any recommendations?

 

[mwgorecki]

I got the Antec SX-830 case with 300W PS from EMS for $74 @ http://www.emscomputing.com/

sz

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I'll check it out..Do you think I will need more than 300W if I plan on using a GF3 card??

 

[mwgorecki]

I do not think so, but the Antec SX-840 has the 400 Watt power supply.

sz

 

[Guest]

I know this is off topic but I thought I'd ask. I know the minimum PS is 300W for AMD systems, but when is it necessary to go up to 400W? Thanks

 

[SERVO]

I'm sorry I did't read this thread before! Please read the thread {MAKE IT STOP! DAMM THE INDUSTRY} I'm sorry!!!DON'T order anything!!!!!!WAIT!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

I read several reviews running Crucial PC2100 CAS2.5 at CAS 2 without a problem. They were running at 300MHz and said they thought they could push it even further.

Take a look: http://www.gamepc.com/reviews/hardware_review.asp?review=ddrshootout2&page=1&mscssid=&tp=

At some point you just have to jump in and upgrade. There will always be new and better technology coming out. If you always wait for the next new chip or board, you will never upgrade!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by thansen on 04/11/01 11:03 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

I'm not exactly sure when you need 300W and when 400W. But I would imagine that should you wish to try overclocking, you're gonna need the extra power. I ordered SX840 with 400W, just to be on the safe side.

Leo

 

[rd382]

Give my the spacifics on that 512 of DDR! The cheepest ive found it is 250 for 256mb wher wher wher did you find yours



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[TheSandman]

Check out crucial.com if you have not done so already.

SANDMAN
LEAN MEAN KILLIN MACHINE

 

[rd382]

This may seam like a stupid question but im a newbie so thats my excuse... whats this dif between Unbuffered and Registered memery? and whats this dif between ECC and Non-parity?

thanks mucho

I plan i using the A7A266 so what one did you think i should order?

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[mwgorecki]

www.crucial.com - not only is it cheap, it is at least one of the best!

sz

 

[rd382]

still didnt answer my question.... whats the dif?

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