SDRAM or DDR SDRAM?
 

Hi, I am thinking of building my own system.
I have never built a computer before (except a few RAM upgrades)
I have read the hardware section in an A+ book :rolleyes: so I know a little about hardware.
So, I was thinking of getting a bare-bone PC and just starting with that and slowly upgrading. Now, herein lies the problem.
I can get a bare-bone for $70 that uses SDRAM (Socket A)
I can also get a bare-bone for $130 that uses DDR SDRAM (Socket A)

See, I dont want to spend 500 bucks for a system thats not going to work. Id rather spend like 200 for the first time so I can see if I can really build a system. But, all me friends say I should go with DDR SDRAM (which in turn is more expensive- but is not going to be obsolete by 04)
So, DDR SDRAM or SDRAM?

Depending on the speed of DDR supported, I would recommend DDR. DDR tends to be quite a bit faster then regular SDRAM.

Veritas en Lux!
Jimmy The Hutt

Straight from www.crucial.com

Oh, so thats what they mean by PC2100/2700/3200..
And I dont have to get a bare-bone but im kind of nervous about PSU/case/mobo compatability..
I know like ATX,MicroATX, ect ect but like jumpers and power connectors I have no idea about.

Generally speaking, we have two main combo's:
1) AMD Athlon, with the Via KT333/KT400/KT600 and Nforce2 chipsets/mobos. If you go for budget-Athlon, you take a Via KT600 (or less) mobo; if you go for high-end, you take a Nforce2 mobo.

2) Intel Pentium 4, with the Intel 845/865/875 chipsets/mobos (or, *shudder*, Sis chipsets). If you go for budget P4, you take a 845 mobo and a 533 mhz P4; if you go for high-end. you take a 865 mobo and a 800 mhz P4.

(I did not mention AMD Durons and Intel Celerons, as you may have noticed. They're budget chips, and fit in the list as such.)

For the case: any ATX case will do, provided it has a pentium4/athlon - ready power supply, which means a 300+ Watt PSU with enough oomph at the 12 volt line (>14 ampere will do). Generally speaking, again, any newish case is good enough, especially brand-name cases like Aopen, Coolermaster, Chieftec, etc.

As for jumpers: usually none are needed, or the manual will say so. Today's mobos are typically configured through the bios, with loads of auto-detect options around.
Power connectors: compare the mobo and the PSU cables, and you'll easily figure it out. If in doubt, ask any computer nerd.

M'kay?

save the money, you probably won't tell the differnce unless gameing, I have used bothand I can't tell a diffence in mine with either type. and the sdram is likely to be cheaper too

atx and micro atx are diffent size boards but the same connector for the power supply, get a name brand power supply is one suggestion though