Sales of SDRAM-based Pentium-4 motherboards have taken a lead over RDRAM-based
P-4 mother-boards in the last few months. According to market estimates, initial
sales of RDRAM-based motherboards in the country were very high compared to
SDRAM-based motherboard, despite its high price.
The ratio stood at around 75 percent for RDRAM and 25 percent for SDRAM.
However, the trend has reversed in the last few months with 845-motherboards
selling more than 850-motherboard. Now the sales ratio is 25 percent for RDRAM
and 75 percent for SDRAM.
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According to a mother-board distributor, the reason apparently is the price.
Besides, the performance difference during normal usage is also miniscule.
A bundle comprising 1.6 GHz Pentium-4 processor, i850-chipset motherbo
ard and
128 MB RDRAM is priced at Rs 19,000 approximately. Comparing this with a
pack comprising 1.6 GHz P-4, i845 motherboard and 128 MB SDRAM at a cost of Rs
15,250 approximately gives a price difference of Rs 3,750.
"Earlier, users were buying 850-motherboards looking at the performance
features of RDRAM module. But users have now realized that there is not a
significant difference in performance for normal usage," says Nilesh Rane,
Sr Accounts Manager, The Best.
RDRAM (Rambus) operates at 800 MHz whereas SDRAM operates at 133 MHz.
"This speed difference becomes visible only while using heavy applications
like 3D animation, video editing, images, and so on," he adds.
Meanwhile, another technology that is slowly picking up is the Dual Data Rate
(DDR) memory. Till the time it becomes a hot pick, SDRAM users have the option
of adding another 128 MB with the money they save on their systems.
NELSON JOHNY
MUMBAI