Rambus Vs SDRAM

[Guest]

Hi!

I want to buy a P4. But there are two types of RAM. Is Rambus really better than SDRAM? Will Rambus replace SDRAM in the future? Will the supply of SDRAM remain stable in the next few years?

Thank for any comment.

 

[AMD_Man]

Whatever you do, DO NOT GET SDRAM WITH A P4!! It slows down the processor by up to 30% Generally speaking, as Crashman mentioned before, with SDRAM, a 1.7GHz P4 will be slower than a 1GHz P3!!! BEWARE OF SDRAM!!! It's cheap but it's toooooo slow!!!

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

The P4 is memory bandwidth dependant. SDRAM has exactly 1/4 the bandwidth of RDRAM when used with the P4. So the performance difference is huge, yes, in the order of 30%. If you really can't stand letting Rambus get more money, you should wait for Intel to release their DDR version of the 845 chipset, or rather, for the boards to appear in a week! Then you can go for DDR, which is still not as good as RDRAM with the P4, but pretty close to it.
Other people speek of VIA DDR P4 chipsets, but I wouldn't let VIA have a dime of my money.
And then there's the SiS DDR P4 chipset, which is not fully proven in the market, and not yet available from good board manufacturers.
So if you want to build right away, go for RDRAM. Otherwise wait for DDR motherboards to become more readily avialable and reweigh your options. SDR SDRAM is a big no-no.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Guest]

Thank for the suggestions. The difference in price between Rambus and SDRAM is not very great. If Rambus is so good then it is OK to use it. Is RDRAM means Rambus RAM? What is the full name of DDR? Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Even the slowest P4 will choke on SDRAM. They want RDRAM. The reason Rambus is so fast is that it's dual channel. Why can't they make a dual-channel DDR system? It would be even faster than Rambus.

Rent this space. Very expensive. LOL

 

[Take_Out]

Hi, actually, the new NForce from NVidia uses dual channel DDR in it's deluxe version. However, the implementation has to mature to be in competion with the current state of chipsets such as SIS and VIA.
Good Luck, Take-Out

"We killed OUR Hitler" - attributed to Paul McCartney (If so, then well done, sir)

 

[AMD_Man]

The P4 is memory bandwidth dependant. SDRAM has exactly 1/4 the bandwidth of RDRAM when used with the P4.

Correction: 1/3

PC133 SDRAM: 1.066GB/s
Dual-channel RDRAM: 3.2GB/s

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[bum_jcrules]

Hammer will be utilizing a dual channel for it's 8 DIMMs per chip. (4 per channel)

<b>All for one and one for all...and 3 for 5! - Curly - The Three Stooges</b> :lol:

 

[Crashman]

Correction, 1/4. P4 uses SDRAM at 100MHz! PC800 runs at 8x the speed but only half the bus width. Unless that new math they're teaching is changing the rules, 8/2=4!

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[AMD_Man]

Correction: 1/3

P4 uses 133MHz SDRAM. PC800 runs at 4X the speed of PC100 but is also double pumped so it's effectively 8X the speed. RDRAM's bus width is only 1/4 the size of SDRAM but on the P4 platform it is run in dual-channels giving it the equivalent of 32-bits bus width.


AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

Ahem. P4 uses SDRAM at 100MHz, at least on the i845. That's 100MHz. Because the bus speed of the P4 is 100MHz. And there is no split bus speed. If you put PC133 on a P4 SDRAM system, it still operates at 100MHz. If you buy a P4 system that says it comes with PC133, this means nothing as I sell old Pentium systems with PC133, that's all I buy, and we know the bus speed of those was only 66MHz. Yes, the bus speed of the P4 is 100MHz (QDR400). And the SDRAM memory bus for t5he i845 is at 100MHz.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[AMD_Man]

Wrong. The P4 bus is 100MHz QDR which means that the RAM can run asynchronously from the bus (like a 100MHz DDR bus Athlon system with PC133).

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

I thinki we're both right on this one, since companies such as Asus offer such things as split timings in BIOS, while OEM boards/Intel boards usually do not.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[AMD_Man]

ewww, so OEM mobos are even slower than the retail 845 mobos? That's sad!!!

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor

 

[Crashman]

When's the last time you saw such settings as memory/system bus ratio's, cas latency, etc, on an OEM board?

What's the frequency, Kenneth?