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Paul Stivers
3 Posts
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December 10th, 2002 02:00
8250 vs 4550 and Rambus vs DDR
I’m wanting to add a family PC. I have a Dimension XPS D266 for family use, and an HP VL400 PIII for work-at-home and personal use (I got a deal at an auction). All my family's SW today would run fine on a PIII, 800MHz. Office suite, web browsing, music, photo editing, light gaming. But who knows what we’ll want to run a year from now.
When customizing an 8250 vs 4550 on the Dell website, with 256 MB RAM, and choosing the lowest CPU for each, the 8250 only cost $90 more than the 4550. For the extra $90 I get (only the differences are listed):
Dimension 8250 - 2.4 Mb CPU, 850E chipset, PC-1066 RDRAM, 1 4X-AGP slot. (Don’t know what 4X-AGP is.)
versus
Dimension 4550 - 1.8 Mb CPU, 845PE chipset, 333 MHz DDR SDRAM, 1 AGP slot.
Not sure if the 850E chip set overall is a good thing or a bad thing. One question is, will I be able to add Rambus RDRAM for a price similar to the DDR a year from now? (I know that’s a controversial topic.) I think it’s gone from about 200-300% more expensive than SDRAM when it first came out, to about 30-50% more expensive now. I'm guessing that a year from now Rambus will be more mainstream as CPU speeds continue to increase.
Also, 32-bit RDRAM is coming out, and does not need to be installed in pairs. The 8250 appears to have 16-bit RAM, as indicated by requiring the RIMMs to be installed in pairs. I'm wondering, if PC1066 32-bit RDRAM gains market share and prices come down, can that go on the motherboard in the 8250? If so, would you get the intended performance gain of the 32-bit vs 16-bit?
Related articles:
http://www4.tomshardware.com/column/20020215/
http://www.kingston.com/press/2002/memory/prm0209a.asp
For only $90, if I think the 8250’s useful life is extended for 6 months over the 8450, then it’s worth it.
Opinions please.
Paul
When customizing an 8250 vs 4550 on the Dell website, with 256 MB RAM, and choosing the lowest CPU for each, the 8250 only cost $90 more than the 4550. For the extra $90 I get (only the differences are listed):
Dimension 8250 - 2.4 Mb CPU, 850E chipset, PC-1066 RDRAM, 1 4X-AGP slot. (Don’t know what 4X-AGP is.)
versus
Dimension 4550 - 1.8 Mb CPU, 845PE chipset, 333 MHz DDR SDRAM, 1 AGP slot.
Not sure if the 850E chip set overall is a good thing or a bad thing. One question is, will I be able to add Rambus RDRAM for a price similar to the DDR a year from now? (I know that’s a controversial topic.) I think it’s gone from about 200-300% more expensive than SDRAM when it first came out, to about 30-50% more expensive now. I'm guessing that a year from now Rambus will be more mainstream as CPU speeds continue to increase.
Also, 32-bit RDRAM is coming out, and does not need to be installed in pairs. The 8250 appears to have 16-bit RAM, as indicated by requiring the RIMMs to be installed in pairs. I'm wondering, if PC1066 32-bit RDRAM gains market share and prices come down, can that go on the motherboard in the 8250? If so, would you get the intended performance gain of the 32-bit vs 16-bit?
Related articles:
http://www4.tomshardware.com/column/20020215/
http://www.kingston.com/press/2002/memory/prm0209a.asp
For only $90, if I think the 8250’s useful life is extended for 6 months over the 8450, then it’s worth it.
Opinions please.
Paul
Paul Stivers
3 Posts
484
0
Posted December 10th, 2002 03:00
On re-checking, I was a little off on the 4550 specs for the $90 difference. It's actually:
Dimension 8250 - 2.4 Mb CPU, 533 MHz FSB, 850E chipset, PC-1066 RDRAM, 1 4X-AGP slot. (Don’t know what 4X-AGP is.)
versus
Dimension 4550 - 1.8 Mb CPU, 400MHz FSB, 845PE chipset, 266 MHz DDR SDRAM, 1 AGP slot.
PaulPaul Stivers
3 Posts
484
0
Posted December 10th, 2002 03:00
--
It's currently understood that Intel's next motherboards will not use RDRAM. After the "Granite Bay" motherboards which use DDR, Intel's going to 800MHz FSB boards (no longer 667Mhz FSB) that will use dual channel DDR400. At least that's what I remember reading a few weeks ago. This is supposed to happen by Q2 2003
--
That's good to know. That's the same kind of news that came out 1.5 years ago and caused me to buy an auction PIII to hold me over until P4 chip set got off RDRAM. Year and a half later I'm experiencing dejavu (sp?).
If anyone has a url on this, please post. Meanwhile I'll continue searching.
Paul
Not sure if the 850E chip set overall is a good thing or a bad thing. One question is, will I be able to add Rambus RDRAM for a price similar to the DDR a year from now? (I know that’s a controversial topic.) I think it’s gone from about 200-300% more expensive than SDRAM when it first came out, to about 30-50% more expensive now. I'm guessing that a year from now Rambus will be more mainstream as CPU speeds continue to increase.
It's currently understood that Intel's next motherboards will not use RDRAM. After the "Granite Bay" motherboards which use DDR, Intel's going to 800MHz FSB boards (no longer 667Mhz FSB) that will use dual channel DDR400. At least that's what I remember reading a few weeks ago. This is supposed to happen by Q2 2003.
Also, 32-bit RDRAM is coming out, and does not need to be installed in pairs. The 8250 appears to have 16-bit RAM, as indicated by requiring the RIMMs to be installed in pairs. I'm wondering, if PC1066 32-bit RDRAM gains market share and prices come down, can that go on the motherboard in the 8250? If so, would you get the intended performance gain of the 32-bit vs 16-bit?
The 8250 in its current incarnation cannot support 32-bit RDRAM.
It's hard to say whether the soon-to-be obsolete 850E-based Dell will be a better investment over an 845PE-based Dell. In terms of speed, both should last you quite a long time, but in terms of upgradeability you're better off waiting or building something you can upgrade later. Because both Dells will be obsolete in 6 months, and they both provide similar performance, I'd guess you're better off getting the less expensive model.
Oops, I missed that you said it was a 1.8Ghz versus a 2.4Ghz machine. There's also a bigger difference between the performance of PC1066 and DDR266. If you're definitely bound to deciding between the two rather immediately, go with the 8250.
Here's one link re. future chipsets: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6525
Message Edited by bunrano on 12-10-2002 12:09 AM
- And here's another http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1752, I'm waiting for 800Mhz FSB CPU's, Canterbury boards, Serial ATA drives, and the GeForce FX to all come out in force before I upgrade yet again.
Greatone1601
2 Intern
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907 Posts
484
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Posted December 12th, 2002 16:00
The 8250 DEFINETLY for only 90 bucks.
shesagordie
12 Elder
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46017 Posts
484
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Posted December 10th, 2002 03:00
PaulStivers.
For $90.00 difference, take the D/8250. Personally I've a D/4500 with DDR ram that does everything I require.
If you are into gaming, then the D/8250 is the one to have.
Bev.