P4 and sdram question

[Oyeve]

I have seen a lot of P4 boards lately that use sdram (non DDR). Some of these boards have really good specs except for the memory part. In the real world, how much of an issue is it to use one of these boards and not one with faster memory like ddr or rambus? I use a system like this at work and it sucks but then again it is a POS compaq with only built in crap like 8 meg video, so I cant go by that. I have seen some abit boards that have been rated highly that use reg sdram.

 

[Hender]

The average user, that is, Joe Schmoe and Grandma and Grandpa, won't notice a difference at all, and they're better off with SDRAM anyhow because it's cheaper than DDR. Those of us with a little more experience and a better feel for things would notice it only because we KNEW the difference was there. DDR usually only offers a 10-15% (sometimes more, depends on the app) speed boost. If I were just building an email and word processing machine for someone, I would likely use SDRAM is they were concerned about price, because they would not see any benefits of DDR. I probably wouldn't use a P4, though, because they're more expensive than their Athlon/Duron competitors, or even a PIII.

 

[cockeyed]

I checked some tech websites that tested the older PC-133 SDRAM P4 mobos and came to the conclusion that DDR increased performance about 10% over PC133. I don't think most people would notice a 10% increase unless they saw it in a benchmack program. Right now there are a lot of PC133, P4 i845 mobos being liquidated at low prices. You might even be able to use the std ATX case and power supply with some of these. If you want to keep the cost down but yet build a higher power box, this might not be a bad way to go. Also. if you were to use one of the Intel P4 "a" CPU's with 512K it might help performance wise. But, of course, there would be no "bragging" rights!

 

[Oyeve]

Cool. Thanks for the info guys. I have been thinking of going this route mainly because I have some very good Pc133 sdram right now and dont really want to buy more memory. Thanks again.

 

[human2k]

you guys be smoking the pipe too much, check newegg.com for the price of 128mbpc133 against a 128mbpc2100 stick, THERE THE SAME! Plus that dam i845 chipset cost a premium for mobo manufacturers, so go with the Sis 645 chipset (its cheaper), a good MSI board with a Sis645 implementation is only $73 at newegg. Even if you do stick with pc133, it totally kills your over all performance when you upgrade a new cpu.......p5 8ghz with pc133.........ewwwww:|.

 

[Oyeve]

SIS? Ewww! I'll stick with intel anyday.

 

[EdipisReks]

the sis 645 is faster, cheaper, has more features, and is just as stable as the intel 845D. i don't see how anyone could have a problem with it. i would avoid SDR ram on a P4, personally, but do whatever you want.

--jacob

 

[human2k]

<< the sis 645 is faster, cheaper, has more features, and is just as stable as the intel 845D. i don't see how anyone could have a problem with it. i would avoid SDR ram on a P4, personally, but do whatever you want.

--jacob >>




AGREED

 

[cockeyed]

If you already have a non-P4 ready power supply 300W or greater, non-P4 case and a bunch of PC133 ram, you could do a nice upgrade for about $200. On pricewatch: Tyan i845 - S2090 - $63 and a retail P4-1.6a (512k) - $ 135. Just be sure your PS can put out +5v at 30 amps, according to the Tyan spec sheet. Not a bad upgrade from an older sytem for only $200.

 

[Mavrick007]

The P4 especially is bad with pc133 ram cause of it's lower performance issues. If you try to outfit a sdr sdram mobo with a new vid card with ddr ram, you take a performance hit again. You can use new P4 mobos even with older power supplies, such as the Asus P4B266 cause it will hook up the 12v rail directly onto the mobo with a standard molex connector. Stay away from sdr sdram unless on an older p3 or older athlon mobo. When you overclock your ram you end up getting even better results with ddr. You see people telling you how much performance differences they see when upgrading their old Kt133a to a Kt266a chipset too cause there is a difference in "memory" intensive apps. It's true though, most people who just use it for the internet or light gaming or nothing much graphic intensive, will not notice a difference.. hehe but we're talking about power users from anandtech here. There's a difference.

 

[Rebels7]

I built a system around an Asus P4B system back in November because I had a lot of PC 133 ram (1 Gig). I used this system until I built my recent system which is an Asus P4B266-C 1.6a @ 2.4. The P4B was inherted by the wife and is still in use. The P4B is one of the most stable systems that I have built and overclocks the 1.5 william to 1.8 with ease. If you are not a hardcore gamer you will notice little difference in performance between these two boards. Now if you benchmark, then it becomes a little different, the P4B266-C with DDR 2400 will blow away the P4B with SDRAM.

 

[Oyeve]

I am going with a sdram p4 system for many reasons.

1. I have over a gig of excellent memory that cost me a fortune because i bought before they were practically giving it away last year
2. I can get a board basically for free with a trade I did here
3. My A-open case and PSU are excellent, I actually have 13 internal devices hooked up to this one PSU and NEVER had a power problem. At one time I had 19 devices!
4. My current system plays everything just fine so even tho the p4 config im looking to get is not "state of the art" it should still be better than what I currently use now.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Mavrick007]

True, I'd hate to waste good ram as well. I don't have as much pc133 as you do, or else I might get a newer board like that as well. I am learning not to buy ahead more than I need though. I know things will come down in time so I just wait a bit and get newer tech.

Good luck on the new mobo dude.

 

[cockeyed]

Oyeve - Toms Hardware guide has an i845 article that will provide you with some test results you might find interesting. Go Here