Should I get Rambus or SDram for my new P4 pc

[kingoflubrication]

well, i am about to buy a new pc ( my old pII 333 just doesnt cut it anymore), and i was wondering if i should get a rambus or sdram system. i had planned on getting sdram, but i noticed the prices were not too much higher for rambus. if anyone can help me decide i would be very grateful. thanks

[TIbrO]

If you're going for a P4 system, get Rambus. If you're making an AMD system, use SDRAM or DDR. That's basically the general rule.

[tinycorkscrew]

If you're intent on buying a P4, then buy RAMBUS.

See this article:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainboard/01q3/010702/index.html

Of course, I have to point out that the current AMD XP's perform better than the Pentium 4's and cost less.

[kingoflubrication]

well, i had considered getting an AMD system back when i thought i might build my own pc. now i have decided to get a pre-built system, and i want to buy from someone reliable, so i chose dell, and dell doesnt offer athlon. also, i am going to use the pc for video editing and encoding - if this helps.

[tinycorkscrew]

If you're not building your own system and you want to buy from a major manufacturer, then you almost have to buy a Pentium, don't you? I understand that much.

Anyway, the RAMBUS wouldn't make much of a difference in encoding (which is very processor-reliant), but it would make a noticeable difference in non-linear editing.

[JHebert]

If you're getting a P4 I wouldn't get Rambus or SDRAM because DDR P4 motherboards are now available. P4 with DDR should perform about as well as Rambus but cheaper. There is a new version of Intel 845 with DDR support and also SiS has a P4 DDR chipset. Via also has one but I would avoid it because Intel and Via are in legal battles over Via having a P4 bus license and support may be questionable in the future.

[tinycorkscrew]

DDR might not figure into this equation because I don't believe Dell offers any DDR chipsets. I'm not sure any of the major manufacturers do.

Benchmarks on DDR-equipped P4's fall slightly below RDRAM P4's, so if the higher price of RAMBUS isn't a problem (and you don't mind your money going to an incredibly sleazy company), then RDRAM is the way to go with a P4.

[Tommy]

In the end sdram or rambus probably won't make much of a differnce to the majority of uses. There are people out there that need the extra few ounce of power they get from rdram or ddr.... However all that really matters is how you feel about it. If you buy the cheaper stuff and feel cheated, or bummed that for only a few extra dollars (?) you could have been a bit faster..... Than I say go for the rambus stuff, if you can buy the sdram and feel ok about it.... thats your answer.