help to verify new computer purchase...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fed
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I thought all DDR ram had the ability to run in dual channel, but while looking through my motherboards booklet, (it was a cheapo), it has nothing about how to run in dual channel, whereas another previous motherboard showed different ways to setup ram, and what would be in dual and what would not.

Thanks for clarifying that up, hope the topic starter takes a note of that, I did!
 
NewbMediaGuy said:
I thought DDR stood for double data rate, being the same as dual channel just a different way of saying it, right? Also, you mentioned the 754 chipset, but isn't that a socket not a chipset?
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No, DDR ram means that your memory can read & write at the same time... as opposed to the older SDRAM... which will have to wait till the read or write finishes....so 400mhz memory actually runs at 200mz in physical reality...(DDR still uses SD Chips by the way but in a new and improved way)
 
Dracon said:
It's a myth that it will be cheaper. As you see here, when you go with quiet fans, and what not the price really begins to stack up. After all its said and done you end up paying $700-$800 (because you need software) and doesn't even include the DVD/CD Burner, and the video monitor.
If you tell me you want to build your own mogami cables to save money. I'll tell you right on brother. When people tell me they want to build their own computer to save money, I say that's crap.
I've said this a million times in this forum (Unless you want to learn something from building you own) get a refurbish computer from Dell, HP (which some seem to think are great), Gateway, MAC, IBM, whatever. They are cheaper they come with a minimu of a year of warranty and they most you have to do is put your audio card and make it work (provided you took out of the box and plugged it in).
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Yes & No.... In my Experience unless your getting a top of the line model from Dell or whomever your gonna get a cheapish machine that cuts corners in its manufacturing. Quality components are built to last and the latest stuff from ASUS gome with 3yrs warranty.

My Recomendation:
1)ASUS Nforce Motherboard
(get an oldish one not the latest greatest so that its been few a few revisions to iron out kinks)
2) Athlon XP 2400+
(you can save money here and is a great performer and will give you plenty of tracks)
3) 1gig of Crucial Ram (get the good stuff)
4) Radeon 9200 video card (no fans and is good enough to run games)
5) 2 x ATA hard drives (1 for OS and 1 for AUDIO, don't bother with SATA you can run plenty of tracks without SATA which is still an experimental standard in most regards)
6)Zalman Flower CPU cooler
7) Zalman Quiet 350watt powersuply
 
I thought all DDR ram had the ability to run in dual channel,
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Correct. It is the memory controller that uses a single channel (so each DIMM sits connected to the same interface) or a dual channel (if you use 2 DIMMs, then each has its own interface, doubling bandwidth).

With the AthlonXP and all Intel cpus, the memory controller is a part of the northbridge on the motherboard. But the new AMD 64bit cpus have the memory controller inside the cpu. So with those cpus the memory performance is not dependent anymore of the motherboard chipset.

Now, the 754 socket only has a single channel memory interface. The 939 and 940 sockets have dual channel interfaces. So it is the cpu socket that determines what you can do.

Since any dual channel interface needs an identical DIMM on each channel, it only works if you use an even number of DIMMs. So if you put 3 DIMMs on a dual channel interface it will work in single channel mode.

No, DDR ram means that your memory can read & write at the same time...
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No, it doesn't. Dual Data Rate means that while you use a 200MHz clock, each clockcycle transfers 2 data units. So it shifts twice the amount of data with the same clock frequency (as if it would be using a 400MHz clock). There is ram that can be written and read at the same time, but that is dual port ram. Often used for graphical systems where the host cpu can write new data into the ram using one port while the gpu is reading the ram to make the video using the second port.

DDR still uses SD Chips by the way
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Nope, it is a completly different interface.
 
Good luck changing out the motherboard or power supply in a cheap Dell, if you ever need to. Proprietary crap.
 
Fed said:
I want to build because I think it would be cheaper and I am not afraid to... :)
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I suggest that you go with your original configurations. You could also save a few bucks by searching outpost.com, bestbuy.com, compusa.com, etc. for deals on harddrives. I believe that outpost has a 160gig Seagate for under $60 with rebates.

I'd go with this case:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-122&depa=1

Though it isn't as nice as the Sonata, it still gets good reviews on being quiet and cool. The PSU and case are probably a little better than the one in your config, and about the same price.

You can also get the retail kit for the AMD64 processor which isn't that much more and go with the stock heatsink and fan (I heard that they are not too loud...no pun intended).

If you search for deals, you could knock off at least $100 with no performance loss. IMO, you will be more satisfied building your own over a Dell.

Good luck.
 
Hey thanks everyone,
I thought this thread "died" prematurely ... :)

I think I definetly want to build a system ...
But am split between Athlon XP and 64 ... ?

The price point seems almost the same but is 64 beneficial now or only when software catches up?

Also it seems XP MBs are cheaper ...
 
The price point seems almost the same but is 64 beneficial now or only when software catches up?
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Software is the big unknown for now. As long as M$ doesn't come out with XP64 (officialy that is) then the rest will not follow. And then it will be the question about 64bit drivers for audio cards. The manufacturers of those are not exactly the fastest driver writers around...

Since price doesn't seem to make the difference according to your calculations, then I would go for the more recent platfom. An advantage of the 64bit line is the memory controller inside the cpu reducing the latency.
 
The reason to go with an A64 over an XP isn't really the 64 bit thing, it's the fact that even in 32bit mode, the A64's are much faster.
 
Polaris20 said:
The reason to go with an A64 over an XP isn't really the 64 bit thing, it's the fact that even in 32bit mode, the A64's are much faster.
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Thanks Polaris that's what I wanted to hear... :)
So even lowest Athlon 64 would be faster then Athlopn XP 3200 or whatever.. right?

I guess I was wrong about price difference, after more time looking into it 64s are more expensive then XP, I think it wasn't clear whether 64s actualy offer performane/track count/effect count gain over XPs, I did read in some thread someone said that processor is the "bottleneck"

I guess that would be another question... or set of quesitons ... for example do you realy need say 400Mhz RAM if the processor can't "crunch" it that fast anyway? That's just a hypothetical question... I would think that components in the same group defined by, say motherboard, would in general provide better performance with higher values....

Did I just oppened a can of "woop-worms"....? :)
 
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