however...

[high_lander]

At the event MSI was there as well as Intel. I asked the MSI rep which board they would recommend, and he pointed to the 645 board and "All I'm going to say is...333" and he just smiled. So, after I looked at the boards (they had an 845 boards on show, but didn't even label it.) I meandered over to the Intel rep area and started this conversation:

"So the MSI guy said the 645 is going to smoke the 845..."

"He doesn't know what he's talking about"

"I don't know man, 333 is pretty fast, and itlooks real stable"

"Just wait. We got a few tricks up our sleeve."

I don't like the idea of RAMBUS. I don't like thier business pratices, or thier over priced memory. So I choose to not give them my business. That's why I waited a year for P4, so I could get a DDR solution.

On impulse I almost bought the VIA solution, something about having an "outlaw" chipset. But, then I thought, wait what if they lose thier court case and Intel bans them from selling that chipset? Then I'm fooked! (scottish spelling...:beer:) I still have yet to decise which one I am going with.

[batboy]

DDR memory with the right chipset will come reasonable close to matching RDRAM, although RDRAM is still a little faster. The indications are that RDRAM will slide down in price a bit more while DDR will probably increase in price. If you're on a tight budget, the VIA/DDR is a viable solution. Certainly better than the Intel 845 using SDRAM (does Intel have a i845 DDR board out now?).

Personally, I'm going with the i850 chipset and RDRAM. Sure it's more expensive, but since I can afford it, why not get the best. That said, I must admit, I've been holding off buying this setup hoping the prices will drop a bit more. A good i850 board (Abit or Asus) and RDRAM is still kind of expensive, even for us guys that can afford it. The more I pay for my P-4, mobo, and RAM, the less I'll have to spend on that new Sony 19 inch monitor I'm lusting after.