Who else is waiting to build a DDR rig and why?

[Athlon4all]

Everywhere I've read, true performance is slightly less using CL2.5, still that's not an issue as far as it's 2.5 and not 3. And like somebudy said, high qual 2.5 DDR will easily hit 2.

 

[astroview]

I'm itching for a new DDR system too, but I want 166 Mhz fsb and the Athlon 4 too.

My problem is I am graduating in May, and the stuff I want won't be out until January in large quantities, and so I won't have a lot of time to play CS on a fast connection with a fast computer.

 

[cmaMath13]

I have been considering upgrading my cpu/mobo/ram to DDR, but I think I will wait a while. The main reason is that DDR system really do NOT offer much of an increase of their PC133 counterparts for the MONEY.

HOWEVER, when the price is right....

 

[Sugadaddy]

I'm waiting for faster Palominos... When they're out I'll choose what chipset/mobo is the best. Right now it's the SiS 735, but I want one with overclocking options. I might also consider 760MP(X) if mobos aren't too expensive. The Tyan Tiger K7 looks good and costs ~235$, so newer MPX boards should be even cheaper... Hmmm, dual Palominos 1.53ghz

 

[AGodspeed]

I won't even consider upgrading until the Athlon 4/nForce mobo comes out.

As for nForce, it has already started sampling (yesterday), on some European site. In a different language, I can't remember which.

Did you guys read the Socket A roundup on Anandtech. Anand hinted that he's benching the nForce. Finally! I want to see benchs by next week.

 

[MichaelD]

Well, I think for someone who currently has a 1.4GHz "C" Athlon running on a KT133A (133MHz or better FSB) to upgrade to DDR is kind of pointless...but "pointless" is kinda equal to the size of your wallet!

But for me, there will be a noticeable diff. going from a 100FSB SDR to a 133FSB DDR as well as moving from a 1GHz CPU to a 1.4GHz or better (assuming the desktop Pallys actually are released in our lifetime!) I"m looking forward to it!

 

[Drekce]

I just built a box with an Asus A7M266 and 1.4 T-Bird. I was considereing waiting, but the difference is not gonna be that great. By the way, running W2K with that setup I havent had one lockup, blue screen, etc. It has not been restarted for about 2 weeks with VERY frequent use. I would reccommend that board to anyone.

 

[Nessism]

There's always going to be something faster, and sometimes cheaper, just around the corner. It seems to me that the SIS 735 is at the right time and right place: DDR ram and fast Athlons are cheap. I just ordered one of the ECS boards + 1.4 TB + 256 Crucial 2100 DDR for a grand total of $241. For this price the "right time to upgrade" is NOW! Sure you could wait to see how nForce works out but I'm fairly certain that it will be quite a bit more money than the SIS chipset. I'm going for the most bang for the buck. Now IS a nice time to upgrade.

 

[MichaelD]

Well put, Nessisim!

 

[Noriaki]

Actually , the Apaly speed of 1.53Ghz is actually 1533.33Mhz, not 1530
Just like 1.33Ghz is 1333.33

My Duron 1Ghz is still good enough for me! Lol

 

[MichaelD]

Hi Noriaki,

You always seem to know these things; is there a "release date" for the Desktop Pally? As in a certain week or date? I looked at the roadmap on AMD's site...all it says is "second half, 2001." Uh, yeah, that helps@!

 

[AGodspeed]

MichaelD, there is no exact date when the Athlon 4 will come out. But it is well known that it is due in mid to late September. It will definitely be here within the month most likely.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks AGodspeed ! You wouldn't happen to know an MSRP, would you? i'm sure that most dealers will be price-gouging for the first few weeks, and then the price will drop and stabilize.

I'm drooling here....Abit KG7R/1.533GHz Athlon4/512mbPC2100=Mike happy for at least 6 months! LOL!

 

[nortexoid]

blah blah...i'm not upgrading until absolutely necessary...

ECS is more of a household name than u think...especially in the OEM market...u may have friends who bought, say, hp machines using ECS mobos

but anyway, i really would upgrade to DDR now if i had the money - it would surely be a K7S5A w/ integrated LAN....overclocking is overrated now that cpu speeds are so high and i want my system running cool = quiet...not to mention the fact that multipliers are so high that simply adjusting the fsb can give excellent overclocks..

nfArce?...no thanks...i'm not spending a fortune on a mobo that offers nothing exciting over other mobos sporting other chipsets for far less...

twinbank?...will i really improve system performance or just integrated video memory performance?

 

[AGodspeed]

No one is 100% sure on the MSRP at this point. But I would guess that a 1.53 GHz Pally would retail, the day of its release, for around $200-225. And then the price would drop in the following weeks.

That's when you consider the fact that a 1.4 GHz Athlon's price is set now at around $179 (but you can get it for less in other places). This is AMD's price.

 

[erub]

Yup - I want Northwood, and I don't have any money .

 

[MoobyTheGoldenCalf]

I'm going to wait until Oct/Nov to build a new system. By then the Athlon 4, nForce, WinXP and hopefully the next revision of the GeForce3 will be out by then. Plus there should be some good reviews of the Audigy out by that time so I'll see if that is worth it as well. While I'm waiting I think I'm going to get one of those Yeong-Yang Black Cube server cases and work on modding it.

Plus, I just found out that my wife, who works for a local bank, can get up to a $2,000/3year interest free loan to buy a new PC as an employee benefit. Cool!

Brian

 

[Muse]

<< Looking for info and opinions on why folks are waiting to build a DDR rig. I'm sure lots of folks will say &quot;NForce&quot;; me too, but I'm not looking forward to it's release as &quot;The Second Coming&quot; or anything like that. I really like the stability of the AMD 760 chipset, but that SiS has some butt-spanking performance, BUT ECS isn't exactly a household name either. Argh. Talk to me, AT! >>

Seeing as I was running Win9x with a corrupted registry on a Cyrix P166+ (133 MHz) CPU on 64 MB RAM, I figured I had no time to lose. Check Rigzilla below... (I'm at 1.4 GHz now on 512 MB DDR).:Q

 

[Athlon4all]

<< ECS is more of a household name than u think...especially in the OEM market...u may have friends who bought, say, hp machines using ECS mobos >>

I 2nd that! They will allways be one of the best in my mind, sure they don't make ocing boards, but still they have allways made Stable, High performing, and incredibly cheap boards. Every board of their's I've heard good things about, K7VZA (KT133/KT133A), D6VAA (Dual 133A), K7S5A (SiS 735), K7SEM (SiS 730S), and I own in my primary sys a K7VMA (KM133) every one of these boards i've heard nothing but good about. Plus, they're the #2 mobo maker in the world behind Asus, so sure they will never be for the ocer, whenever I hear the words cheap but stable I will allways think of ECS.


<< twinbank?...will i really improve system performance or just integrated video memory performance? >>

Very good q, That is where I think we could see how mem bandwidth orienated the Athlon is. I'm not going to predict how it will do there, but remember Twinbank is meant for the GF2 MX core so we will have to wait and see.


<< nfArce?...no thanks...i'm not spending a fortune on a mobo that offers nothing exciting over other mobos sporting other chipsets for far less... >>

Well, it all depens on how much of a difference DASP, SteamThru, Twinbank all do. Again i'm not going to predict what it will look like. I will say that the APU will be used by me, that's for sure.