I'm planning on fixing up my comp this summer. I need some suggestions on ram. Should I go with DDR2 or stick with DDR? I want to upgrade my comp so it will last me several years...is DDR good enough for now. DDR400 or better? Any seuggestions...
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DDR vs DDR2
- Thread starter superd00k
- Start date
First of all, if you want DDR2, you'll need a chipset that supports DDR2, which at this point is only the intel 915 and 925's. That also means you'll have to buy a socket 775 cpu etc. and a pci express video card. Not to mention, DDR2, is very expensive.
STICK WITH DDR.
STICK WITH DDR.
Tweak Monkey
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2004
- Messages
- 100
I guess it depends on what you mean by "fixing up." If you plan on building a whole new system I can't think of many reasons why NOT to go with DDR2. I say this because if you are going to buy all new hardware, and want the system to last a few more years things like DDR2, SATA and PCI express are what are going to allow you to upgrade to future top end components. On the other side, if you plan on just replacing a few key components in the system as an upgrade for a little while then I would tell you to consider something like an intel 915 chipset, which still has DDR400 available but also has PCI express.
You could keep the hardrives and the video card. Now, if you're gonna get DDR2 you'll have to buy the intel s775's. IMO, you're better of getting an a64 3000+ or so and some nice low latency DDR.superd00k said:heres what i got:
p4 1.6
384sd ram
soundblaster live
ati radeon 9800 pro
40 ad 80 gig drives
two cd drives
dell case
all i can really keep from that is my drives and maybe my soundcard, so im thinking i need a pretty big upgrade
Liam said:You could keep the hardrives and the video card. Now, if you're gonna get DDR2 you'll have to buy the intel s775's. IMO, you're better of getting an a64 3000+ or so and some nice low latency DDR.
If he's going with the new intel chipsets, he can't keep the video card. PCI Express only. :-(
I don't know about the soundcard.. Some board got regular PCI too don't they?
getting ddr2 now won't help you at all compared to buying some low latency ddr. even though ddr2 will eventually have much higher speeds than ddr, if you buy ddr2 now you won't be able to use the higher speed ddr2 probably without upgrading your motherboard too. only the intel 915/925 chipsets currently support ddr2, which aren't going to be very wise to buy for some time.
btw- your 9800pro is still a great video card. depending on how you like to game it may still last you for awhile
btw- your 9800pro is still a great video card. depending on how you like to game it may still last you for awhile
superd00k said:none of the new boards support PCI for my ati radeon 9800pro?
Well, your card is AGP, so as long s u get a non intel motherboard for socket T it's good. Some intel socket T have an AGP slot, but they're just a PCI slot with a different connector. Don't get those. U could go the athlon64 route or buying a non intel socket T if ur going for the cutting edge stuff. The Athlon64s don't use DDR2 memory tho.
amd_inside
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2004
- Messages
- 68
For the moment, DDR2 hasn't much pizzaz. High latencies plague it. We're talking a CAS Latency of 4 or 3.5 and high-performance is 3. Not to mention all the other important latencies.
Not only that, it's also very expensive; I've seen up to 50% more expensive than it's DDR1 brethren.
Not only that, and it's also been mentioned, it's only available on the newest Intel S775 platforms using the 915 and 925 chipsets.
If you plan on upgrading, get an A64 3000+, the MSI NF3 250Gb board, and 512MB PC3200 memory (1GB if you can afford it). Keep the GFX card, the SB 5.1 Live might not be as good as the Via sound device that's onboard. I hear it's pretty good... It has many simularities to the Audigy2.
I don't expect DDR2 to make a huge hit until 6 months from now... But that's my opinion...
Cheers!
Not only that, it's also very expensive; I've seen up to 50% more expensive than it's DDR1 brethren.
Not only that, and it's also been mentioned, it's only available on the newest Intel S775 platforms using the 915 and 925 chipsets.
If you plan on upgrading, get an A64 3000+, the MSI NF3 250Gb board, and 512MB PC3200 memory (1GB if you can afford it). Keep the GFX card, the SB 5.1 Live might not be as good as the Via sound device that's onboard. I hear it's pretty good... It has many simularities to the Audigy2.
I don't expect DDR2 to make a huge hit until 6 months from now... But that's my opinion...
Cheers!
Tweak Monkey
Weaksauce
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2004
- Messages
- 100
The DDR2 won't help a ton right now but it won't hurt either. Also, he doesn't upgrade everything that often. Starting out now with a DDR2 platform would allow for more upgrading a year or more down the road as opposed to sticking with older technology. Don't just look at the "right now" with DDR2, because its still very young. By this time in a year an upgrade to much faster DDR2 would probably be inexpensive and much faster than any regular DDR solution since thats seeing its death topping out at DDR400 (unless overclocked) So, if you're looking for a good computer to buy now, that you could upgrade a few things here and there in a year or two down the road. Definitely go for something with the new technologies. Throw your 9800 card on the FS/FT forum and get what you can out of it, since its still not obsolete and put that towards a new PCIe card.