as far as i know, there are 3 types of RAM for pcs: SD-RAM, DDR-RAM, RD-RAM. i your opinion, what is the best type of RAM, in terms of cost and/or performance?

Also, what combination of CPU and RAM makes a good system (ie: AMD XP 2000+ w/ DDR-RAM)?

DDR is a much better buy. It can be used on some Athlon and pentium 3 / 4 systems while RAMBUS is just p4. A good system would be an AMD XP2000+ with DDR ram

Ok, thanks. Is a P4 and DDR combo a good match? Are there any disadvantages or RD-RAM (I use P4 w/ RD)?

Thanks again

Just make sure your motherboard supports the type of ram you want to buy. As far as performance, Athlon XP's do well with the DDR, and I have heard people with P4's like the RDR Ram. SD RAM is the lowest performance, DDR is in the middle and RDR Ram is the highest. But, I don't believe you can use RDR with Athlon XP. SD RAM is the cheapest, DDR is in the middle, and RDR I think is quite a bit more expensive than DDR. Man, I sound like I'm rambling on.

Well, that's what I got from Smart Computing Magazine anyway. Personally I use SDRAM PC133 cause thats what my board supports.

I don't like any Pentiums. they are expensive and for most things, AMD beats them. If you insist on buying a p4, get it with rambus ram

OK, Time for my $.02 worth. I would suggest you save a few bucks in the CPU. Buy AMD. Say an AMD XP 1700 or 1800, unless an XP 2000 is not out of your $$ range. As far as RAM, 512MB instead of 256MB. This will ensure no need to increase your RAM as the OS's change AND buy "QUALITY" RAM. I use Corsair DDR with my Athlon. Mushkin and Kingston are also quality manufacturers.
If you buy Intel, you could probably get away with the less expensive RAM, but you will have to because Intel chips are OUTRAGEOUSLY priced for their performance.

BTW, Corsair has a compatablility chart/search engine on their web site so you ensure you get the suggested/tested RAM for the board you have. But whatever you decide on, research is the key!!

Just my $.02 worth.

Thanks all, for you insight! Very much appreciated

Look,
The best combo is P4 and RDRAM
now first off RD-Ram is only 10 dollars more than DDR & SD so it isn;t that expensive. Also a intel is a far more credible company than amd. Which have to market their chips not by their actual speed but some cheep marketing ploy intended to confuse a customer into buying it. Now FYI if u didn't know that The Diffrence between a Athlon Xp 1900+ and a 2000+ is only 6mhz. Now u tell me if something is wrong with that.

Brandon Brin

What is the difference among SD-RAM, DDR-RAM
SD-RAM, make a comparison on technology,
functionality, price, application?

WHOA BRANDON...have you seen any benchmarks recently on P4 2.x & say an AMD XP 1800 or 1900 ?
Have you also compared the prices of those 2 CPU brands?
I build PC's for a living & I always suggest AMD the way to go for Value for Money.
If a client WANTS a P4, I'll build it for them..BUT...value for money...go the AMD with DDR on say a TYAN or SOLTEK M/B

WHOA BRANDON...have you seen any benchmarks recently on P4 2.x & say an AMD XP 1800 or 1900 ?
Have you also compared the prices of those 2 CPU brands?
I build PC's for a living & I always suggest AMD the way to go for Value for Money.
If a client WANTS a P4, I'll build it for them..BUT...value for money...go the AMD with DDR on say a TYAN or SOLTEK M/B

Is there any significant difference of performance between pc2100 rd ram and pc2700?
I do quite a lot of multi tasking, so is it enough for me to use 128 - 256mb ram? Or is it necessary to get 512mb? For instance, i always do word processing, winamp, internet surfing, downloading and installing/removing programs at the same time. I planned to get either celeron 1ghz or p4 1.6..combined with 128mb sd ram or rdram..which is the best...guys?