DDR and SDRAM on the same mobo. What's the draw back?

[WoundedWallet]

I kinda remember when EDO came out and some mobos took FPMs and EDOs. I also remember some issue about it being a half-assed solution that made the EDOs run slower then they could. I don't remeber why tough.

So is there any info that hybrid mobos like the new MSIs PRO266-R are still half-assed solutions?

BTW, I'm looking specifically for this MSI cause I think they killed the board withe their IDE cable placements. But I would like to keep my eye open to any other hybrid that comes along.

WW

 

[AndyHui]

Timing issues and stability problems, probably.

EDO was not that different to FPM....EDO simply had longer times available for accessing the data in a cycle with a few other minor modifications. EDO could also be effectively run as FPM.

You can't really do that for DDR and SDR....sending data on both the rising and the falling edge of the clock signal counts for a pretty significant difference.

 

[WoundedWallet]

Thanks Andy.

I'll be looking for hints of instability when the reviews come.

Also, I made a typo above. I meant I was NOT looking for that MSI for the reasons I mentioned.

 

[AndyHui]

As for instability, take the ASUS CUV266 for example. Revision 1.00 had 3 DDR DIMM slots and 2 SDR DIMM slots. Rev 1.02 completely removed the SDR DIMM slots and all the traces on that area of the motherboard, supposedly for reasons of stability.

The new CUV266-E put back the SDR DIMM slots, but they made quite a few other changes to the board as well to increase stability.