|
DDR
SDRAM and Rambus RAM
Until
motherboards with chipsets able to use the new DDR RAM,
Intel Pentium 4 processors could only use Rambus
RAM, which runs at an effective speed of 400MHz, and is comparatively
still very expensive compared to standard PC 100 and PC 133 SDRAM,
and PC 1600 and PC 2100 DDR RAM. - See below for the news
that has just come out that VIA has developed a chipset that supports
DDR SDRAM.
AMD Athlon processors can run on motherboards that use
PC 1600 and PC 2100 DDR RAM. AMD Duron processors
run on a 100MHz system bus that can only use the PC 1600 DDR RAM.
PC 2100 DDR RAM runs on a 133MHz system bus. - More on this further
down the article.
Below
is a table that provides some interesting information about the
differences between recent types of RAM technologies.

The
table below shows the history of RAM since 1987. The PC66
to PC133 in the three purple rows refers to SDRAM.
Rambus RAM is shown in the two yellow rows, and DDR
RAM is shown in the three blue rows. FPM and EDO
RAM is no longer manufacturerd, but it was used for nearly a decade,
and was usually supplied in the form of SIMM modules. Towards
the end of its life, EDO RAM could be purchased in the
same DIMM module form as DDR RAM. 
256MB
RAM - minimum on a new PC
You
should not purchase a new computer that comes with less than 256MB
of RAM. Especially if the video card is built into the motherboard
and shares the system's RAM. (A PCI/AGP video card has its own
RAM.) If you purchase a computer that only comes with 128MB of
RAM, you will have to upgrade it to at least 256MB in order to
be able to run Windows XP and the latest games and applications
comfortably.
DDR
SDRAM and Rambus RAM --
What is RAM and what does it do? -- Which
DDR RAM? -- How to install RAM?
-- How to identify the size
of RAM modules? -- Different types of
RAM? -- Mixing brands can often cause
problems -- Memory Frequently Asked
Questions
|