DDR or DDR2 (939 or AM2) ??

[Meithan]

I'm buying a system based on an Athlon X2 , but I can't decide whether to go DDR (socket 939) or DDR2 (socket AM2). These are the particular memory sticks I'm considering, and my calculations of the CAS latency for each:

Corsair XMS 1024MB (512MB X 2) PC3200 DDR 400Mhz 2-3-3-6
Clock=5.0ns
CAS=10.0ns

Corsair XMS 1024MB (512MB X 2) PC5400 DDR2 675Mhz 4-4-4-12
Clock=2.96ns
CAS=11.84ns

They cost about the same (the DDR2 sticks being slightly cheaper). Which one would you go for?

Also, I have many more motherboards options if I go 939.

 

[Saint71]

I would get the DDR2 ram.

 

[Meithan]

Thing is: if I go DDR2, these are my only options for motherboard:

ASUS M2NPV-MX
ASUS M2N-E
ASUS M2N-SLI DELUXE

I don't plan on going SLI so I'd rather save up the price difference, and the M2NPV-MX has integrated graphics, which I don't need. Is the M2N-E a good motherboard?

Edit: BTW, Jessica Alba is HAWT

 

[Saint71]

The M2N-E looks like a good motherboard to me. That only has one pci-express 16 slot which is want you want

 

[alecjahn]

Yeah. Definitely AM2, and definitely get the single-slotted mobo. That should last you some years.

 

[Meithan]

Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to know.

 

[cwiz]

dont get an asus board, i've been hearing bad things... i like my msi and dfi kicks too

 

[Meithan]

My choices are very limited. The FULL list is as follows. These are pretty much ALL the AM2 motherboards I can get here in Mexico. I know, it sux.

ECS C51GM-M
ECS RS485M-M
Gigabyte GA-M51GM-S2G
Gigabyte GA-M44SLI-S4
Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S5
PCChips K8-A33
Asus M2N32-SLI
Asus M2NPV-M
Asus M2NPV-MX
Asus M2N-E
Asus M2N-SLI
Asus M2V

Only the Asus and Gigabyte boards are decent, and I don't want SLI, so out of that list, the M2N-E seems the best choice.

 

[gmanych]

Go for AM2 for upgrade options later on. 939 is getting old

 

[Meithan]

Thanks, gymanych. On a side note: did you OC your Athlon XP 1800+ on stock cooling?