DDR versus RAMBUS

[Guest]

Quote from: Hard OP.com

http://hardocp.com/articles/computex_2001/viac3/viac3.html

New Pentium 4 with DDR versus Pentium 4 with RAMBUS

"Directly compared to RAMBUS/i850 on "identical" GeForce2 Pro systems, the RAMBUS box scored 1380 as compared to VIA's chipset doing 1484 running 3DMark 2001 1600x1200x32."

This seems to contradict what I have been hearing about the benefits of the extra bandwidth in RAMBUS RIMMs.

 

[Guest]

RDRAM is faster when it's working, but it spends most of it's time slacking off. DDR is slower, but it doesn't waist nearly as much time. So in reality DDR often has more real life bandwidth.

I AM Canadian.

 

[mpjesse]

I already posted this =)

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Still Suck"

 

[FatBurger]

Here goes:
SDRAM - 133MHz + 64-bit datapath = 1.064 GB/s bandwidth
DDR - 266MHz + 64-bit datapath = 2.128 GB/s bandwitdth
RAMBUS - 800 MHz + 16-bit datapath = 1.6 GB/s bandwidth

So, as you can see, RAMBUS is using the tried-and-false method of taking a little tiny funnel, and sticking it under a waterfall.

Basically, RAMBUS runs over four times as fast as your typical, non-overclocked SDRAM, but it only can throw a quarter as much information across at a time. DDR has the most bandwidth.

Now, where the tricky part comes in is how good a job the chipsets and software take advantage of what's provided. So far, they aren't, and so RAMBUS still has a large disadvantage. Why do you think Intel decided to allow the DDR and SDRAM chipsets for P4?

However, the reason that RAMBUS was used for N64 and PS2 is because both of those need lots of quick, short, bursts. Not the longer complicated stuff that PCs use. Therefore, a much smaller amount of RAMBUS would perform better than SDRAM, SGRAM or DDR in a gaming console.
Oh yeah, that's why the X-Box is using it too, although that's arguably a PC.

Hope that helped some.
I don't even understand most of it.

Apple? Macintosh? What are these strange words you speak?

 

[wapaaga]

one thing you forgot is that rdram is set up in a two channel system to make it up to the higher tansfer ratees

 

[mpjesse]

The X Box is using DDR SDRAM.

-MP Jesse

"Signatures Still Suck"