I Would like to build my first computer. I Need To Know Whats The Differences between DDR , Rambus & Sdram mother boards ? What makes one better then another ? other then Price. Plus any recommendations on a mother board. I want one the will take a P 2.0 and later maybe P 2.4 or higher? I want to use this machine to Play Games , Surf, Mess with MP3s , . And Maybe Run My Home Theater? DVD & Sound Field. And Learn Alot from.

RAMBUS - Short for Rambus DRAM, a type of memory (DRAM) developed by Rambus, Inc. Whereas the fastest current memory technologies used by PCs (SDRAM) can deliver data at a maximum speed of about 100 MHz, RDRAM transfers data at up to 800 MHz.

RDRAM is already being used in place of VRAM in some graphics accelerator boards. As of late 1999, Intel has been using RDRAM in its Pentium III Xeon processors and more recently in its Pentium 4 processors. Intel and Rambus are also working a new version of RDRAM, called nDRAM, that will support data transfer speeds at up to 1,600 MHz.


SDRAM - Short for Synchronous DRAM, a type of DRAM that can run at much higher clock speeds than conventional memory. SDRAM actually synchronizes itself with the CPU's bus and is capable of running at 133 MHz, about three times faster than conventional FPM RAM, and about twice as fast EDO DRAM and BEDO DRAM. SDRAM is replacing EDO DRAM in many newer computers


DDR - Short for Double Data Rate-Synchronous DRAM, a type of SDRAM that supports data transfers on both edges of each clock cycle (the rising and falling edges), effectively doubling the memory chip's data throughput. DDR-SDRAM also consumes less power, which makes it well-suited to notebook computers. DDR-SDRAM is also called SDRAM II.


I personally use DDR RAM and Soltek motherboards in my systems.

http://www1.soltek.com.tw/English/home/01.htm

Hope that wasn't too much infomation for you!


Roger

for good reviews check out tom's hardware guide (do a google search).
for technical forums see anandtech. I recommend a P4 1.6a and a asusp4te motherboard. You will be able to clock it over 2.2 GHz. It uses RDRAM. New boards are coming out though that support a 533MHz system bus and PC1066 RDRAM... if you investigate, you will see this config beats all others performance wise...