Building: need ram help

[Blue Jack]

My box is dated, and I'm piecing together a new system. I plan on going with a new AMD64 X2, depending on prices I'll probably go with the 3800. I love Asus, so I want to stick with one of their boards, I would love SLI, but I'm going with a single card for now (money constrants) but would like the option to slap in a second card in the future.

I'm stuck and confused on memory. DDR2 vs DDR, whats the difference. How do I know which motherboard will support which? Is a different DIMM connector, or is it all the same? If I don't plan on OCing, do I even need DDR2? But I really don't want to upgrade my motherboard in a few months just because my ram is dated. Is DDR2 even an option with an Nforce chip?

Basically what should I be looking for when making a ram purchase? I'm planning on starting out with this motherboard: http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-p/overview.htm

Thanks in advance. I'm just drawing a blank on memory at the moment.

Also, side question, I'm using SATA seagates at the moment, that are only SATA1, are the faster SATA (3Gb/s) backwards compatable?

 

[jpom]

I'm going from memory here and could very well be wrong, but i think the biggest thing with DDR2 is that it has faster speeds (Mhz wise, 400-667 i think), uses less power, but also has higher latencies. So it's kind of a trade off. Either way iirc AMD boards don't support DDR2 yet, although i think that will change this year or next. So I think if you planning on an x2 you pretty much have to stick with DDR for now.

Again I could be wrong so someone might want to confirm this.

 

[Son Goku]

I'd have to double check on DDR2, as it's been awhile. DDR basically differs from SDR in that it accesses the RAM at both the rising and falling clock edge (aka twice per clock). DDR2 isn't QDR, so what I have in mind as the next advancement in line, I don't think fits.

As to supported memory, check the spec sheet for each motherboard you are looking for. They should state right on there what kind of memory you can run with. In this case, either check the manual that came with it, or if looking at mobos online, look for the detailed specificiations, or something concerning the specs. Under this, look to see what it says in the list wrt supported memory.

Now AMD64 introduces something else to the table with the integrated memory controller. You might want to check the CPU to see if it includes any info (beside the mobo), but I'm not sure it will. Perhaps one of the other posters with some experience with AMD64s can help you out there. I have heard that certain cores could be finiky with certain types of memory.

Now the DIMM might or might not be different (haven't looked into DDR2 DIMM modules myself), but best to stick with whatever the manufacturer suggests using in either case.

 

[Blue Jack]

Thanks for the info.

I found this article: http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2476 and I'm *assuming* DDR2 will not be supproted with AMD chips until 06 (M2 chips)?