Upgrade motherboard now or wait for DDR/RDRAM?

[max105]

I know RDRAM technology is pretty much dead, but what about DDR? I'm planning on an upgrade soon, most likely an 815E board, but I was wondering if I should wait for DDR supported motherboards, or just upgrade to the 815E now. I dont' want to upgrade and have to upgrade again right away when DDR gets mainstream? Anybody have any ideas about this? Wait or upgrade now?

 

[airfoil]

If you've decided on going with Intel, go with the 815E/EP get some PC150 SDRAM. Why wait? Whatever you do buy will be pretty much obsolete in a year or two anyway.

 

[max105]

well my main concern will be whether or not DDR ram is going to get mainstream in the very near future (next few weeks)? If so, I am going to wait for the DDR motherboards to come out before I upgrade. Otherwise, if it's still going to be awhile before DDR catches mainstream, them I'm going with the pc150 ram and an 815E mobo like you said. so will DDR be catching on any time soon? or am I wasting my time waiting?

 

[max105]

wait or buy now?

 

[Kosheen]

I say buy now if you're sticking with your current processor. Since you're talking about an i815 mobo I assume your having either a PIII or a Celeron.

DDR Ram adds little extra performance to current setups because Athlon & PIII aren't built to be bandwidth consuming monsters. And PIII will not evolve any further (I mean with core modifications, not with better manufacturing processes & die shrinks). Athlon still has some upgrades to it's core listed for the future that would make it more performing. But then you'd be waiting for the so-called 'Thoroughbred' (how the hell do you write that anyway?) core, and there's still a core between the Thorowhatever core and the current T'Bird core but I forgot the name. So you could be in for a long wait.

My final advice: buy now!

 

[kolianich]

Hello from Russia!!!

 

[kolianich]

I need an advice. In 1997 I bought motherboard ASUS TX97-XE. Now I want to buy HDD 20Gb, but my friends say it support only drives before 8Gb. Does it true? How to avoid this restriction.

 

[Kosheen]

No, it shouldn't be a problem, just make sure you have the latest bios! You can find the latest bios file here: http://www.asus.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/bios_socket7.html#tx97-xe.

Hope this helps!

 

[dt]

Read the review on anandtech.com about the new via ddr chipset. There is virtually no performance difference on a PIII platform as most apps do not benefit from increased memory bandwidth.

I would not wait for DDR or waste the money. I seems that the intel 815 chip set is the best performance match for the PIII's

here is the link. http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1402

 

[max105]

thanks DT and KOSHEEN...I will buy now then!

 

[Kosheen]

No problem, glad to be of assistance!