Greetings all!
I'm trying to help my brother and my friend buy new computers, and as they don't have as much money to shell out as I did for my Dell 8400, I need some help in helping them throw together good systems for a low price. I should quickly point out they'll probably be using it mostly for games.
I've already checked out the Buyer's guide for Video Cards and CPUs, but there's no Buyer's guide for RAM, so, I apologize for any retreads of facts already dolled out on these forums (I did read through some of the posts, but I still have questions):
1. I've been hearing lately that the DDR2 RAM is actually slower in some cases than DDR. To what extent is this true? Are there any motherboards that can make better use of DDR2 RAM than DDR RAM? Is DDR RAM ultimately a better buy than DDR2?
2. What is the difference and significance of single-sided and double-sided RAM?
3. What's the difference and significance between dual-channel and regular RAM modes?
4. What's the difference and significance between ECC and non-ECC RAM?
5. Which RAM manufacturers are especially good and which ones should I avoid at all costs?
Any help here would be appreciated!
Mad Cat
I'm trying to help my brother and my friend buy new computers, and as they don't have as much money to shell out as I did for my Dell 8400, I need some help in helping them throw together good systems for a low price. I should quickly point out they'll probably be using it mostly for games.
I've already checked out the Buyer's guide for Video Cards and CPUs, but there's no Buyer's guide for RAM, so, I apologize for any retreads of facts already dolled out on these forums (I did read through some of the posts, but I still have questions):
1. I've been hearing lately that the DDR2 RAM is actually slower in some cases than DDR. To what extent is this true? Are there any motherboards that can make better use of DDR2 RAM than DDR RAM? Is DDR RAM ultimately a better buy than DDR2?
2. What is the difference and significance of single-sided and double-sided RAM?
3. What's the difference and significance between dual-channel and regular RAM modes?
4. What's the difference and significance between ECC and non-ECC RAM?
5. Which RAM manufacturers are especially good and which ones should I avoid at all costs?
Any help here would be appreciated!
Mad Cat