Conclusion
DDR is new; this is our first look at this. I have to say we have seen *some* improvement. This CPU is one hell of a beast - it is very fast, and without doubt it is better than any Intel CPU on the market at the moment. Would you want to spend the money on a motherboard and a RamBus module for it? I wouldn’t. Intel have said that their CPU is the fastest, but it is using a new technology. That is the point, it isn't as fast as they say in terms of classic MHz speed, the new core makes a difference to the rating of the CPU speed.RamBus is dead. I can’t wait to see some benchmarks with DDR Ram on an Intel system, but in the long run, is it worth throwing away your current PC133 Ram? I think not, well not just yet. AMD and DDR looks very promising but it seems early days. Especially as SDRam is very cheap now. Get 1GB of ram and just live with it ;) Yes there is cheap DDR ram out there, but it isn't the top-notch stuff, it is only the standard 'Pc100 style' stuff.
Overall this motherboard is fast and so is the CPU, it is faster than any KT133 board, but at the end of the day the KT133A board outperforms the 'Goliath' If I had 400 quid I would buy a Duron and a decent model Kt133A board. That will show you guys speed.
On the other hand, is DDR dead? HELL NO! This is just the starting block in the race, lets wait 6 months and see what they deliver. I can tell you something we are in for a treat!
Intel, ALi, VIA, AMD all have implemented DDR technology, but at what rate? They need to work out tweaks here and there; in the long run this is one promising technology.
This motherboard chipset (760) is more mature feeling and tweaked than any other AMD Chipset. Usually people have problems, but we didn’t, and we ran at 4X AGP straight away without any glitches. We must also remember we couldn’t overclock on the AMD board as they don’t "like" it. But wait till someone like Abit gets hold of this chipset, then we should see some magic!
Overall, I am happy with the performance of this AMD rig with DDR Technology. It is 2 different items merging. They are doing well together, but I would like to test a 3rd party motherboard which uses the AMD 760 Chipset. (Come on AMD give Abit some chips ;)
