Help DDR or Rambus Memory Purchase?

[Ballina]

I'm trying to decide which memory to go with when I purchase my next PC. I have read where Rambus is dead or Rambus is coming out with a new version - rambus II, yet many of the major mfg's only offer rambus with P4. I found some clone vendors that offer P4 with DDR
plus better cases, decent cooling options, etc.

Am I better off with DDR for upgradability in the future? I usually end up keeping my pc's for about 4 years and I always end up adding more memory / upgrading as much as I can before moving on to another pc. I use primarily photoshop and I am starting to learn Bryce & Carrara.

I'm going to wait until the 5/26 price cut by intel and then buy my pc, so given my time frame which memory am I better off with?

Also - any suggestions for clone pc vendors? I've been looking at outside loop and hypersonic pc.

Thanks

 

[John]

Goodluck trying to get RAMBUST working on an AMD platform should you decide to give the good guys a shot. Rambus is going to linger around for a while, but Intel doesn't seem to have as much faith in them as they once did. You will find more people using DDR right now, and it should be easier to find locally should you want to add more memory. Rambus has high bandwidth, and overclocks really well, but so does DDR.

 

[Athlon4all]

For the Athlon XP, DDR, but for the P4, PC1066 RDRAM ROCKS!!!!!

 

[NOX]

<< For the Athlon XP, DDR, but for the P4, PC1066 RDRAM ROCKS!!!!! >>

 

[Daovonnaex]

RDRAM has increased bandwidth over DDR SDRAM. Obviously, RDRAM outperforms it. As such, I recommend RDRAM. Since you're looking to buy a computer, I'll recommend some manufacturers to you. If you still know which components are excellent, and would like to select them, then I recommend GamePC and OxfordPC.. If you do not (or know a bit), then I recommend Falcon Northwest, as you can both select components and receive help in selection; VoodooPC (beware, horribly expensive), and Alienware (beware: overpriced). Feel free to ask me (or any of the other ATers) for further help in your selection.

 

[Ballina]

Thanks for the input. I'll check those pc sites out. It's confusing to me as Rambus does have the increased bandwidth yet i read that
many software applications are not optimized for it. I'm not sure if photoshop uses that bandwidth but I have read it is optimized for the Pentium and they recommend Intel on their web site.

DDR ram seems to be right up their with Rambus in different web sites ratings on system app's and now I'm reading that a new generation of chipsets are coming out for motherboards with DDr. I know DDR is less expensive but Rambus has come down in price too. I try to keep up with what's happening but you have to read a lot of web sites to keep up on it.

Can you recommend a tower case with good internal cooling capabilities. I have the outside case cover off my current pc tower with two table top fans blowing on it (one on each side to keep it cool as my video card gets way too hot), everything is so old now that I can't upgrade it any more (old pentium II) <g>. I was looking at the ATC -201 Alum tower. My pc room is a small bedroom and I have large 22 inch monitor that likes to give off heat too so the room gets warm quickly, expecially with the hot florida summer coming.

Thanks