1.33gig DDR or SDRAM?

[Aftershock]

We all know at lower speeds DDR makes no real difference but what about the 1.33 Tbirds? These are the last Tbirds until the Pal's come out. And AMD has been stating that Pal + DDR = ultimate

but a 1.33 oc'd to 1.4 or 1.5 blurs the line between Pal and Tbird. So like the topic states....DDR or SDRAM?

[Tachyon]

Aftershock (Apr 03, 2001 11:44 p.m.):
We all know at lower speeds DDR makes no real difference but what about the 1.33 Tbirds? These are the last Tbirds until the Pal's come out. And AMD has been stating that Pal + DDR = ultimate

but a 1.33 oc'd to 1.4 or 1.5 blurs the line between Pal and Tbird. So like the topic states....DDR or SDRAM?

I think that it depends on how you feel about being on the "leading edge" and what kind of a premium you are willing to pay to be there. DDR is still maturing and more expensive. Personally, I'm not overly impressed with the current performace gain that's obtained with DDR.

Terry

[Aftershock]

more expensive? hardly, which is why I was asking


256 2100 DDR - $98 (crucial.com)
256 PC133 CAS2 - $94.34 (www.crucial.com)

they are about the same price.....I guess it areally just boggles down to if there are any good mobo's that support DDR, like how's the Iwill?

[dem1an]

according to anand..he coudnt rec any of the ddr boards.

[el]

Both chipsets are very new but the new amd boards that come out are getting better and better. I believe most people believe the 761's are the best choice if you are goin the ddr route.

[Aftershock]

what are some 761's?
I've heard of 760's but no 761's.


I haven't heard too much about how well they oc either. Tomshardware and anand have some articles, but both are a bit outdated.

Some of hte turn downs they mainly stated were price (not an issue now) and boards being not refined, but that was 4-5 months ago.

[Megahurtz]

The '761' is merely a portion of the 760 chipset. It controls the system bus, DDR, AGP and PCI contollers.

I am waiting for higher clockspeeds. I'll wait for the adoption of 333Mhz Bus(double-pumped) before adopting a DDR platform.

I don't feel this is a monetary issue at all. The platform is in its infancy, and I am happy(today) with the speed of a well executed SDRAM solution. Just one users opinion.

Cheers,

T

[Aftershock]

Isn't DDR suppose to help in the future, esp with games when vid cards are no longer the bottleneck? (as they are currently)


So basicaly there are 3 chipsets?
761
Ali's Magikarp or whatever the hell it is
and VIA's

With performacing and O/C in mind, whats the best mobo/chipset then?

I because prices for DDR and SDRAM are almost identical now.....

[Tachyon]

Have you read the article that Ed posted today on this subject?

Terry

[Aftershock]

yup I did, so I guess we're just waiting for a good mobo.....

but he got the DDR prices wrong, crucial has 256 PC2100 for only ~$100 vs the $250-300 the article stated which takes out that "price vs performance" becuase its only $5 more than crucial SDRAM.

[MsNath]

MSI seems to have a nice DDR board out and Ace's hardware is giving it good reviews.

http://www.aceshardware.com/Spades/read.php?article_id=25000215

[Aftershock]

This board looks promising.....

however there are a few issues I am worried about...

the reviewer comments on the board layout..

"The layout is good, but not perfect, as the AGP connector comes very close to the SDRAM sockets and the CPU socket is a bit too close to the power supply. I admit, i am splitting hairs... "

The "i am splitting hairs..." perhaps I have failed to pickup on the hurmor here if there is any. So long video cards = problem, and if CPU socket is close to powersuppply, isn't that near a warm area? Doesn't Abit-KT7a sit near power also?

they never mention if you can change the clock settings of CPU in the bios, or via dip, or not at all (AMD 761's can't!)

and last, I know nothing about MSI and their quality.... I've always believed in Asus or Abit...and now recently Iwill...

anyone know when Iwill's KT266 is comming out?

[TheDS]

While the Iwill SDR board is top-notch, their DDR board is extremely lacking. It uses the MAGiK chipset, which rather sux. The AMD reference design kicks its butt. VIA's KT266 (DDR) has found good performance in an MSI board, but so far that's the only one I've seen with a favorable review. It edged out the AMD chipset most of the time, but more importantly, it costs a lot less, and mfrs are going to let you change your FSB.

The DDR price drop only just occurred, but since Ed also reported on that, you'd think he would've updated his more recent article. Poor guy never sleeps. But like he says, we gotta wait for a board. I'm heavily considering DDR now, and with prices almost certain to go up on SDR, you gotta wonder about picking up some of this.

If only they'd come out with good boards!!!!

[TheDS]

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[TheDS]

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[TheDS]

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[QSW]

I just bought the MSI KT7266 board and it allows multiplier change, fsb, Vcore and DDR voltage in the bios.
Regarding the power supply issue, I think the reviewer meant the power connector on the mobo, it's situated right betwen thcpu socket and i/o ports rather than idealy at the edge of the board like the Abit KT7's. As for the ram sockets, it's the same problem with every board I have come across, long video cards = remove card before removing ram, no biggie :P

[DaveB]

Whoa, MsNath is a girl! Oops, sorry, a woman, no offense. I guess the "Ms" should have been a tip off, but there's not many hot-looking women posting at hardware sites. We get some occasional women software developers, system admins, and testers, but never any on the hardware side. Hello, MsNath!

Getting back to DDR, avoid anything with the ALi MAGiK1 chipset, the latencies are just too high for top performance. But then, the AMD 760 is only a temporary solution as AMD always quickly orphans their chipsets. So it might not be worth the effort getting the thing running only to have everyone drop support for it in 6 months. Anyone considering DDR should probably just wait for the VIA KT266 for a more long-term solution. As with all VIA chipsets, beware the initial Beta cycle of 3 to 6 months. But since there's currently very little advantage to going DDR, most everyone can really afford to wait.