well, the 1gb of memory can hold more information and data than the 512mb rambus. but the 512mb rambus is till faster than the sdram 1gb because of the increased speed.
When you compare the 4550 and the 8250, you'll see that the 8250 is more expandable, and a better base for the future. It's also more expensive. On the other hand, Dell is clearing out the 8200s, and soon they will be gone so you might get a better deal.
The best advice is to configure all three systems as comparable as possible. Go with minimum memory, planning to add it later. You can price memory options for later in two links I'll provide below.
At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself what the expandability and slightly faster memory is worth, and whether you will ever notice it.
To configure DDR RAM for your 4550, click here for Crucial's memory configurator. Crucial is a division of Micron, one of the largest manufacturers of memory and a supplier of Dell's. Memory selected via their configurator is guaranteed to fit, and all memory has a lifetime warranty - plus they provide priority shipping at no additional cost.
To find the proper RDRAM for your 8250, click here.
Remember to configure both systems in Home and in Small Business, to see the difference. Also remember that the deals will change tomorrow, and that in SB you pay sales tax, in Home you only do if Dell has a presence in your state.
Sorry I wasn't entirely clear. I am in the market for a new PC and I'm going crazy trying to figure out what to get. I've been (somewhat) patiently waiting for prices to drop and new technologies to come out over the last month or so, but I'm getting antsy and think I might pull the trigger soon. Really, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth buying a RDRAM system (e.g. Dell 8250 or ABS Awesome 3600) with less memory or a SDRAM system (e.g. Dell 4550 or ABS Awesome 3500) with more memory, assuming the latter would be cheaper. I'm planning on spending around $2,000 (happy to spend less), and want to get a pretty jacked system for video editing (non-professional) and some minor gaming.
@DaMutha wrote:
Sorry if this is very basic, but: would getting 1 gig of SDRAM be as good as (or better than) getting 512MB of RDRAM?
First, a machine that can take SDRAM can't take RDRAM. Opposite is true too. And there are different speeds of RDRAM as well as SDRAM, and DDR RAM is SDRAM.
If the question is whether too comparable machines (but they aren't comparable due to the memory they take with different system bus, etc.) running the above would show different performance, the answer is who knows.
RDRAM is generally seen as the most efficient memory on the market. Windows XP as an example likes 256 - 512 of memory. Users have said that they can't notice any difference going over 512.
The reality, IMHO, is that if benchmarking didn't exist, most users wouldn't have a clue in a blind test what memory they had, what hard disk speed, or if a change made it better or not.
So, to answer the question of whether apples are better than oranges, it depends what you like the best
buffbison
513 Posts
0
November 20th, 2002 15:00
well, the 1gb of memory can hold more information and data than the 512mb rambus. but the 512mb rambus is till faster than the sdram 1gb because of the increased speed.
rickmktg
2 Intern
•
11.9K Posts
0
November 20th, 2002 16:00
When you compare the 4550 and the 8250, you'll see that the 8250 is more expandable, and a better base for the future. It's also more expensive. On the other hand, Dell is clearing out the 8200s, and soon they will be gone so you might get a better deal.
The best advice is to configure all three systems as comparable as possible. Go with minimum memory, planning to add it later. You can price memory options for later in two links I'll provide below.
At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself what the expandability and slightly faster memory is worth, and whether you will ever notice it.
To configure DDR RAM for your 4550, click here for Crucial's memory configurator. Crucial is a division of Micron, one of the largest manufacturers of memory and a supplier of Dell's. Memory selected via their configurator is guaranteed to fit, and all memory has a lifetime warranty - plus they provide priority shipping at no additional cost.
To find the proper RDRAM for your 8250, click here.
Remember to configure both systems in Home and in Small Business, to see the difference. Also remember that the deals will change tomorrow, and that in SB you pay sales tax, in Home you only do if Dell has a presence in your state.
DaMutha
3 Posts
0
November 20th, 2002 16:00
rickmktg
2 Intern
•
11.9K Posts
0
November 20th, 2002 16:00
First, a machine that can take SDRAM can't take RDRAM. Opposite is true too. And there are different speeds of RDRAM as well as SDRAM, and DDR RAM is SDRAM.
If the question is whether too comparable machines (but they aren't comparable due to the memory they take with different system bus, etc.) running the above would show different performance, the answer is who knows.
RDRAM is generally seen as the most efficient memory on the market. Windows XP as an example likes 256 - 512 of memory. Users have said that they can't notice any difference going over 512.
The reality, IMHO, is that if benchmarking didn't exist, most users wouldn't have a clue in a blind test what memory they had, what hard disk speed, or if a change made it better or not.
So, to answer the question of whether apples are better than oranges, it depends what you like the best