P4 Mobo Quandry - Advice Sought

[Fionavar]

So the time is nigh - the boards are to be announced this Monday and then a new twist and even more time to wait arises - so it seems I need some help.<BR><BR>Which mobo should I go with - the new Intel 845PE with DDR 333 spec and apparently Abit will have an AGP 8x version . . . or do I wait. yet again, for the Granite Bay @ the end of October with the Dual DDR support - though only for DDR 226? I was thinking of throwing a Gig of RAM into the new Rig - but I am unsure what to do. AGP 8x is important as I want this new rig to have some legs, but the Dual DDR has me thinking to the horizon again. So - will there be a real world and perceivable difference between 1 Gig of DDR 333 or 1 Gig of Dual DDR 266? Thanks ahead of time. Peace.

[Avid6eek]

It's always best to wait as long as you possibly can before you upgrade. Won't Dual DDR double the bandwith (DDR266 will have 4.2GB/sec bandwith). If that is the case, which i'm pretty sure it is, i'd wait for that. Only because it's obviously way more bandwith, and with DDR333 taking off, DDR266 should become quite a bit cheaper. It already would save ya around $40/Gig of RAM with 266 over 333. That extra bandwith is needed more than 8x AGP. 8xAGP as of now is no improvement over 4x. The only reason AGP was designed was because graphics cards used to use the system memory so they needed bandwith to get to it. Now that GPU's have all this onboard memory (soon to be onboard 256MB) they don't need as much bandwith so 4x should do you good for quite some time still. If you do wait for the Dual DDR, AGP won't be an issue because anything new enough to support Dual DDR should most certainly have 8x AGP. The more important Mobo feature you should be looking for is Serial ATA connectors.

[Fionavar]

<br><br><< <i>It's always best to wait as long as you possibly can before you upgrade. Won't Dual DDR double the bandwith (DDR266 will have 4.2GB/sec bandwith). If that is the case, which i'm pretty sure it is, i'd wait for that. Only because it's obviously way more bandwith, and with DDR333 taking off, DDR266 should become quite a bit cheaper. It already would save ya around $40/Gig of RAM with 266 over 333. That extra bandwith is needed more than 8x AGP. 8xAGP as of now is no improvement over 4x. The only reason AGP was designed was because graphics cards used to use the system memory so they needed bandwith to get to it. Now that GPU's have all this onboard memory (soon to be onboard 256MB) they don't need as much bandwith so 4x should do you good for quite some time still. If you do wait for the Dual DDR, AGP won't be an issue because anything new enough to support Dual DDR should most certainly have 8x AGP. The more important Mobo feature you should be looking for is Serial ATA connectors.</i> >><br><br><BR>Thanks shiznit,<BR><BR>I think this is the same conclusion I have come to since posting this inquiry. Now it is just a matter of staying patient and putting up with me OS - 98SE - as it becomes more unstable. It's 18 months since a clean install and it is showing its age <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> Peace.

[Avid6eek]

18 months...damn....I usually clean install about every 6. I have my downloads, mp3s and movies on another HD so i don't lose them.

[Fionavar]

<BR><< <i>18 months...damn....I usually clean install about every 6. I have my downloads, mp3s and movies on another HD so i don't lose them.</i> >><BR><BR><BR>Exactly - I have been putting off a clean install since July when I thought I would be moving on the upgrade - the only thing I went ahead with was the 9700 and now I have to RMA it b/c it is a dead card <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> Sheesh I am a Murphy Magnet <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

[NaSTy]

<br><br><< <i>Sheesh I am a Murphy Magnet</i> >><br><br><BR>Damm Murphy <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif" border="0"> and his laws.

[Fionavar]

<br><br><< <i><< <i>Sheesh I am a Murphy Magnet</i> >><BR><BR><BR><BR>Damm Murphy <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif" border="0"> and his laws.</i> >><br><br><BR><BR>Your telling me . . . <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">