Please explain RAM latency and timing

[imported_Ringo]

I do a lot of music production on my machine and am concerned with RAM timing and latency. I have been working with and building computers for years but never paid much attention to this RAM speeds before. I do not have any problems with my current rig but I would still like to understand this topic because I plan to build a new DAW rig soon and want to get the fastest memory that I can afford (lowest latency).

My current rig in a nutshell has a P4C800-E Deluxe with a P4 3.0 Northwood and 2GB of Kingston DDR PC3200 400mHZ ram configured as 4X512 running in dual channel config. According to Everest 2006, the timing is 3-3-3-8, the latency speed is 84.2 ns, and the bandwidth is 4563 MB/s read and 1631 MB/s write.

My rig works fine and I can play and record music with no problems, so I have to -assume- that these are decent numbers. But I do not know exactly how they stack up in the big scheme of things or if they are considered good numbers for a DAW machine.

Also, how is DDR2 viewed these days as far as latencies and applicability for DAWs? When it came out, it was said that it suffered from high latency but that was at least a year ago. I am wondering if, when I build my new rig, I should use DDR2. And now I am reading about DDR3... I guess that my question here is "what is the latest and greatest memory scheme," as I have not looked into new memory for at least a year.

Thanks

 

[acole1]

Here is a good link that might help explain some of what you are asking.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I'm not pushing Corsair. I have both Corsair and Kingston in use.
This presentation is well worth the viewing.

http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/pr...s/tech/memory_basics/153707/index.html



...Galvanized

 

[letdown427]

lower = better


okay fine that wasn't very helpful, but still, it explained it

There's a good thread over at dfi-street that explains every last bit of memory timing and what it means. can't remember where it is exactly though, it's in the amd/nf4 part of the forum. if not, email a crucial guy for help! I've asked them about random questin before, they're pretty nice guys. just say you wanna buy some of their stuff, that'll encourage a response.

 

[CZroe]

Tag

 

[imported_Ringo]

OK thanks and maybe I should rephrase the question a little bit -- for a DAW machine that also does double duty as an everything else machine, how does my memory with the timing at 3-3-3-8, the latency speed at 84.2 ns, and the bandwidth at 4563 MB/s read and 1631 MB/s write rate?

 

[auveeb]

It's up there.