DDR2 vs DDR

F

FeelTheRads

Vault Senior Citizen
I want to get 1GB of ram. Is DDR2 (say at 667Mhz or even at 533Mhz) much better than DDR at 400Mhz?

Is it worth to get a motherboard with DDR2 support?


Or even more:

What should I choose between P4 3Ghz with 2MB cache, 1GB DDR and Sempron 3000+ with 256KB cache, 1GB DDR2, considering the Sempron configuration is some $30 cheaper?
 
Definitely the Sempron. AMD beats the P4's ass in every respect in that generation.

Although you should really go for a an Intel Core Duo at this stage, or if you want to stay in the P4 generation an AMD Athlon.
 
Actually, the situation is not that simple when Sempron is involved, since it's pretty shit. Definitely go for the Athlon, if possible.
 
DirtyDreamDesigner said:
Actually, the situation is not that simple when Sempron is involved, since it's pretty shit.
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The 3000+ is still better than the P4, though.
DirtyDreamdesigner said:
Definitely go for the Athlon, if possible.
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Yep. It can't be that much more expensive at that point.

Though he really should go for the Intel Core Duo, if possible.

Also, unless I'm completely mistaken, AMD didn't exactly support DDR2 in any way back then because it wouldn't benefit from their architecture, so getting DDR2 would be pretty pointless for an AMD chip. Unless I'm confusing two things here.
 
Also, unless I'm completely mistaken, AMD didn't exactly support DDR2 in any way back then because it wouldn't benefit from their architecture, so getting DDR2 would be pretty pointless for an AMD chip. Unless I'm confusing two things here.
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Dunno, the Sempron I'm talking about is for the AM2 socket, and the motherboards with this socket all have DDR2 as far as I could gather, so maybe it is supported now?

Oh, and actually, if I get Athlon 3000+ for the same motherboard, it would be about the same price as for the configuration for the Pentium 4 if I'd buy the CPU from the store. Only I have the chance to get the P4 CPU at half the price, so actually with the Athlon I'd have to pay about $60 more... and that's not very good for my pocket.


Edit:

OK, now, between:

Sempron 3000+, socket AM2, motherboard with integrated GeForce 6, PCI-E, 2*512 DDR2 533

and

Athlon 3000+, socket 939, 2*512 DDR 400


Is is worth it to get the Sempron only for the motherboard with DDR2?
Or maybe even for the integrated GeForce 6? Will this card perform better than my GeForce 3 Titanium? I know I won't be able to play recent games with it (I've seen some benchmarks online and it had disastrous results), but at least if it's faster than the GF3 which I can't use on this motherboard.
 
Wiki on DDR2 :
"While DDR SDRAM has typical read latencies of between 2 and 3 bus cycles, DDR2 may have read latencies between 3 and 9 cycles. Because of this higher latency, DDR SDRAM running at the same bus speed as DDR2 is generally considered superior; DDR2 is, however, able to run at substantially higher bus speeds."

Find out the latency ratings of those RAM modules if you want to know which is better. My guess is the DDR 400MHz and the DDR2 533MHz are about the same.
 
Basically:

DDR - Low latency but low bandwidth

DDR2 - High latency but high bandwidth

Depending on the application that you are going to use them for, one factor might do more to improve performance than another. Check out Tomshardware and Anandtech for benchmarks. Remember that Pentium and Athlon handle RAM differently. Intel still relies on the Northbridge for access to the memory which introduces latency. Athlon uses a memory controller which is integrated on the processor itself and has a better bandwidth to communicate with the memory.

Definitely go with the Athlon, P4 is one of the worst architecture ever invented. Runs hot, is inefficient and is expensive. AMD chips are at an all time low now because Core 2 Duo is raping them on all levels, so they have to slash prices to try and keep moving stock.

Finally, remember that soon, most games will require Vista and a DX10 card, so take that into consideration as well, maybe an upgrade now may be better deferred until the prices come down on current generation CPUs, your call though because you might fall too far behind to upgrade.
 
Wooz said:
*waits for Sue's opinion*
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alrighty, here I am folks:

1) P4 vs Sempron: it all depends tbh. a real P4 (of 3 Ghz or more) will be better than a Sempron 3000+, however, the Sempron is better than a Celeron D. an Athlon 3000+ is roughly similar to a P4 of 3Ghz, but is probably a lot less expensive.

2) DDR1 vs DDR2: there is little difference when you're talking mainstream. 400Mhz DDR1 vs 533Mhz DDR2 doesnt matter much. the difference is a few percentages (due to latencies of DDR2). DDR2 however is the newer technology and supports speeds way beyond the mainstream 533Mhz. it is about as expensive, runs cooler and uses less energy.

3) my advice: all of the above = outdated stuff. you really should try to get a budget C2D instead. a Core 2 Duo E4300 offers EXCELLENT value and even better overclocking potential.

it's a futureproof investment, where the sempron or athlon are not.


Edit @ skynet: there's nothing wrong with the P4's as a whole. the Northwoods were a nice piece of work. it's the Prescotts that suck power and breathe heat. :)
 
Thanks for the answers, duders.

I ended up with a P4 631, at 3Ghz with Cedar Mill core, which is apparently the best single core Pentium out there. Well, I dunno... but so far I'm very satisfied with it. I'm upgrading from a P3 at 450Mhz, though, so my judgment is to be questioned.
 
Cedar Mill is MUCH better than Prescott. It's 65nm process so the TDP (Thermal Design Power) is 86W (on the B1 and C1 steppings) or 65W (on the D0 stepping) instead. I was trying to get a 671 for my computer but the Gigabyte engineers won't update the BIOS so that I could use Cedar Mill cores so I would be stuck with the 670 and 660 cores which would turn my room into a Sauna.
 
Well, it's teh bestest forever and ever!

Seriously though, I'm not very well documented about it, and I wasn't very interested either, since, well, the cheapest one is about the price I paid for the CPU, motherboard and ram together.


As a sidenote:

I can now play Bloodlines! Yay!
 
my Core 2 Duo (E6400) runs at 50% overclock (2.13Ghz @ 3.2Ghz, the motherboard cant handle FSB over 1600Mhz sadly. the CPU is nowhere near it's limit.) at below stock voltage (1.27Vcore) and running 25°C CPU core temp / 22°C CPU temp (at 18°C roomtemp). under full load and with overclock, it doesn't break 50°C core temp with all fans running at 6.5Volt.

it does SuperPi 1M in 17 seconds.
5500 3DMark06 with 2gb 4-4-4-12 @ 1600Mhz FSB running 1:1 and with an mildly (badly overclocking) X1950Pro.

I once simply cut the CPU fan entirely and played HL2 for a few hours (max detail ofc). the CPU didn't even have to go into thermal throttling. it ran cool enough with passive cooling to run full speed.

PS: don't whine about my post being gibberish, you asked for it.
 
SuAside said:
my Core 2 Duo (E6400) runs at 50% overclock (2.13Ghz @ 3.2Ghz, the motherboard cant handle FSB over 1600Mhz sadly. the CPU is nowhere near it's limit.) at below stock voltage (1.27Vcore) and running 25°C CPU core temp / 22°C CPU temp (at 18°C roomtemp). under full load and with overclock, it doesn't break 50°C core temp with all fans running at 6.5Volt.

it does SuperPi 1M in 17 seconds.
5500 3DMark06 with 2gb 4-4-4-12 @ 1600Mhz FSB running 1:1 and with an mildly (badly overclocking) X1950Pro.

I once simply cut the CPU fan entirely and played HL2 for a few hours (max detail ofc). the CPU didn't even have to go into thermal throttling. it ran cool enough with passive cooling to run full speed.

PS: don't whine about my post being gibberish, you asked for it.
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Wow! I didn't know that C2Ds were so good at over clocking. I wish I knew how to OC my Woodcrests.
 
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