http://mschnlnine.vo.llnwd.net/d1/Dev/App_Themes/Channel8/images/feedimage.pnghttp://channel8.msdn.com/Tags/ram/ramhttp://channel8.msdn.com/Tags/ram/en-usWed, 26 Nov 2008 21:15:26 GMTWed, 26 Nov 2008 21:15:26 GMTEvNet (EvNet, Version=1.0.3229.2473, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null)<p> <img width="362" height="201" title="HTPCram" alt="HTPCram" src="http://channel8.msdn.com/Link/3607f437-85de-476c-adae-adba1216f6b5/" align="left" border="0" /> Personally I can’t wait until we get to the point that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRAM">memory is no longer volatile</a>… imagine the power savings, speed, and data efficiency! But that’s a topic for another day. Right now, let’s make our Random Access Memory (RAM) decisions for our <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/maxbuildsMediaCenterIntro/">build an HTPC project</a>!</p> <p>In the <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIII/">motherboard discussion</a>, many of you were recommending the “G45” chipset, which means we should stick to 240 pin DDR2 800 chips. Beyond that, the rest is really up to you to decide. </p> <ul> <li>2 gigs? 4 gigs? 16 gigs? </li> <li>Should it have a heat spreader? </li> <li>What latency should we consider? </li> <li>Does latency even matter for media applications? </li> </ul> <p>Reaaaaaady….. GO!</p><img src="http://channel8.msdn.com/9511/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0" height="1" width="1" alt="" />http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIV/http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIV/Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:17:00 GMThttp://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIV/10463http://channel8.msdn.com/9511/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0<p> <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIV/"> <img width="362" height="201" title="HTPCram" alt="HTPCram" src="http://channel8.msdn.com/Link/3607f437-85de-476c-adae-adba1216f6b5/" align="left" border="0" /> </a> Personally I can’t wait until we get to the point that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRAM">memory is no longer volatile</a>… imagine the power savings, speed, and data efficiency! But that’s a topic for another day. Right now, let’s make our Random Access Memory (RAM) decisions for our <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/maxbuildsMediaCenterIntro/">build an HTPC project</a>!</p> <p>In the <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIII/">motherboard discussion</a>, many of you were recommending the “G45” chipset, which means we should stick to 240 pin DDR2 800 chips. Beyond that, the rest is really up to you to decide.<br /> <br /> Read on for pointers...</p>Max53http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/HTPCpartIV/RSS/http://channel8.msdn.com/9511/Trackback.aspxmax builds a pc seriesmaxbuildsMediaCenterram<img src="http://channel8.msdn.com/Link/bf113a3d-8159-445a-9385-ae6d5cfd53e6/" border="0" /><p>Since in our <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-III-The-Motherboard/" target="_blank">last thread </a>we narrowed down our motherboard choices to the X38 chipset, specifically the <a href="http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2730" target="_blank">Gigabyte GA-X38T-DQ6</a>, that means that when it comes to choosing RAM... we have to stick with DDR3.<br /><br />"RAM you say? Audowhaty?" No I don't mean <a href="http://www.dodge.com/en/2008/ram_1500/" target="_blank">that truck you've been drooling over</a> (besides, that's too big for the "compact car" parking spot you have on campus)... I'm talking about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM" target="_blank">Random Access Memory</a>.<br /><br />Key factors to consider:</p> <ol> <li>How much is enough? 2GB? 4GB? Vista requires 512 MB minimum, 1 GB for the premium experience... but I'll be the first to admit that 2 GB is more of a sweet spot for Vista and of course it doesn't hurt to have more.</li> <li>Keep in mind that a 32-bit OS can only "address"* up to 4 GB of memory in total (including onchip and other devices like graphics cards). This means if you have 2 graphics cards each with 512 MB of memory, you can effectively address at most 3 GB of other memory modules (RAM etc.)</li> <li>Our FSB clock will be 1333 MHz, what clock rate should our DDR3 memory be set at? (don't end sentences with a preposition... )</li> <li>Latency????? Does this matter?</li> <li>Are we going to get into another brand war? Who are you loyal to these days?</li></ol> <p><br />Alright get crackin' and let me know what you think!</p> <p><br />*addressing in computer-speak means being able to have a numeric pointer for each location in memory. If you use a 32 bit OS, you can effectively address 2^32 locations, or about 4 GB; 64 bit means 2^64 which even though we cannot due today due to hardware limitations, it will peak at about 16 EXAbytes (mega, giga, tera, peta, exa).<br /><br /><a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series/">Series Rules</a><br /><a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-I-The-Case/">Part I: Case</a><br /><a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-II-The-CPU/">Part II: CPU</a><br /><a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-III-The-Motherboard/">Part III: Motherboard</a><br /><br /></p> <p></p><img src="http://channel8.msdn.com/725/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0" height="1" width="1" alt="" />http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-IV-RAM/http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-IV-RAM/Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:17:00 GMThttp://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-IV-RAM/2793http://channel8.msdn.com/725/WebViewBug.aspx?EVT=0Since in our <a href="http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-III-The-Motherboard/" target="_blank">last thread </a>we narrowed down our motherboard choices to the X38 chipset, specifically the <a href="http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2730" target="_blank">Gigabyte GA-X38T-DQ6</a>, that means that when it comes to choosing RAM... we have to stick with DDR3.<br /><br />"RAM you say? Audowhaty?" No I don't mean <a href="http://www.dodge.com/en/2008/ram_1500/" target="_blank">that truck you've been drooling over</a> (besides, that's too big for the "compact car" parking spot you have on campus)... I'm talking about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAM" target="_blank">Random Access Memory</a>.<br /><br />Read on to enter the land of latency and double-data-rates....<br /><br /><br />Max46http://channel8.msdn.com/Posts/Max-Builds-a-PC-Series-Part-IV-RAM/RSS/http://channel8.msdn.com/725/Trackback.aspxmax builds a pc seriesramrandom access memory