Should I make the switch to DDR?

[MaxwellHouse]

Should I make the switch to DDR?

I am considering 2 mobos either the epox 8k7a for DDR or the MSI k7t turbo RAID for SDR. I'll be running Crucial memory either way and either a 1.2 or 1.33 CPU. I have no intention of overclocking (for now anyway). I was also planning on running an MSI GF2 Pro if that is any issue.

Are the performance benefits there with DDR? I use my computer for a lot of gaming, but when I am actually getting my work done, I focus on Photoshop and web applications.

Is the AMD 761 chipset as good as the Via KT133A? Stable? Supported under Win2K? Reliable?

 

[Maverick]

what are you running right now? It would be easier to give you advice if we knew what kind of performance gains you are looking for.

 

[MaxwellHouse]

Well, since you asked:
celeron 366 @ 550
Aopen 440BX board w/ 1 bad PCI slot
16MB AGP TNT1
Maxtor 45 Gig ATA 66 7200RPM
Seagate 20 Gig ATA 66 7200RPM
SB Live! value
TEAC SCSI 6x CDRW w/ adaptec card
Acer 50X CDROM
1 128 MB PC100
2 64 MB PC100
Win2K Pro

I will be purchasing new:
CPU (Athlon 1.2 or 1.33 @ 266 FSB)
Memory (2 256 MB sticks of Crucial either CAS 2 PC133 or CAS 2.5 PC2100)
Case (Antec 1030B w/ 300W P/S)
video (MSI GF2 Pro 64MB)
maybe a 30 gig ATA100 HD.

I will be using the sound card and one of the hard drives from the old machine, the remains of the old machine will be left as a server/spare box.

 

[madthumbs]

~10% performance gain for a small price to pay for the difference in ram... I would say it's worth it. The 8k7a is an EXCELLENT mobo as well!

 

[NelsonMuntz]

The price difference for the RAM is negligible, and the chipsets with the AMD 761 northbridge are showing a 10% improvement over the KT133A chipsets. The difference in costs of motherboards is really the determining factor. This difference depends on the manufacturer. For instance to go from FIC KT133A solution to the AMD760, it only costs $10 but to go from one Abit RAID board to the other is like $74 dollars. The other makers are in between somewhere with MSI and ASUS being a $54 difference and Epox being $34. I would probably suggest the Epox 8K7A board if you go with DDR, so the difference isn't tremendous. What you have to ask yourself is whether the 10% performance improvement you will see is worth it? Also, do you want to go with what is probably going to be the standard into the future, or stick with the more established PC133 standard? Just some food for thought.

 

[Dreadogg]

I did it went with the MSI K7T266 Pro,256 mb Pc 2100 DDR and 1.33 Ghz Thunderbird I'll be installing this later on tonight bought the board from microbarn for $118.00 ram was really cheap at crucial for 44.99 and free 2 day shipping !! And yes i will be updateing the bios I'll post here later to tell if there were any problems .