We buy, They Age! We buy, They Age! We Buy, They Age!

By Jasper Chau 
Freelance Staff Write 

Aging Computers 

        Do you think your computer is aging as you read this at this moment? Well, the truth is, your computer is not alive, but actually the components inside the case are getting weaker by the day. As your computer becomes more advanced, it is hard to keep up with the advents of new technology. From a shiny, new computer to some old, dusty, run-down, machine. Imagine how much has improved and changed since the past decade. To name a few changes the cases most PC’s are contained in use to come in the AT tower and now an ATX tower, or something that everyone should know, Intel’s Pentium to the Pentium 4. 

        But the good news is that the stuffs getting cheaper, right? Yes and No. Actually the new stuff will always be expensive, and the old stuff will always be cheaper. For example, if you compare two CPU’s, about two years ago. The 750 Mhz processor that first came out would have a similar price tag now, but with a 1.4 MHz processor, and that is almost two times faster. In other words, the advent of new materials pushes the older units down the slide to lower altitudes (prices), as the new things take the top prices for a limited time only or until a newer, better thing comes out. 

Memory: Now and Then 

        SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RDRAM, what’s the difference? They are all memory, but the speeds, the way they operate, and the prices are the differences. SDRAM, Synchronize Dynamic Random Access Memory, is currently the cheapest and most widely used. DDR SDRAM, Double Data Rate SDRAM, similar to SDRAM, but is an improvement, it is actually capable of two data samples per clock, which in the end, doubles the output. If you had memory at 133 MHz, it is actually running doubled its named speed to 266 MHz, hence the name Double Data Rate. And last but not least RDRAM, Rambus Dynamic RAM, is the next step after SDRAM, also known as RIMM modules (Rambus inline memory modules). 

        When RDRAM first came out, the prices were staggering, 128MB of RDRAM ranged around $200, and now its around $30. Why is that? The answer is advent of DDR SDRAM, because of its cheap price and could run with a maximum output of 2.1GB a second with one memory stick. Since Intel’s Pentium 4 processor uses only RDRAM, they hope in the future their chipset used with Pentium 4’s will support a DDR chipset. Since these decisions are still unsure, the 645 and 650 chipsets will support DDR333 memory with a maximum output of 2.7GB a second. But Rambus considers that Intel increase the front side bus (FSB) for current Pentium 4’s. These statements are also not confirmed right now. But, if Intel increases the FSB from 400 MHz to 533 MHz, this will increase memory output from 3.2GB a second to 4.2GB a second. If the proposal is definite, changes will not be seen until early 2002. The other proposal is an increase to 600MHz(FSB) in 2003; this will also decrease memory latency and the output all together. For now, only time can tell if the proposals are made definite, since many of the new ideas are still in test and being discussed.