Buying a Motherboards - Memory Types

Again another essential component that is plugged into your motherboard is your systems main memory called RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM now comes in a number of forms mainly slotting into one of two forms DIMM's and RIMM's. Because mixing memory types is a big no no for system performance its often that a motherboard only supports one type. Some boards do support two types and let you choose which one to use. DIMM's are the most popular and can be found on most boards. RIMM's are fairly new and offer very high speed memory up to 8 times faster than standard PC100 DIMM's. Real world test don't show this however. Intel seems to be working with RIMM's and you can find them on there higher end boards especially for the P4.

DIMM's

Double Inline Memory Module - By far the most popular type of memory. You will find DIMM slots in most of the new boards on the market, the only exception is a few boards that only take RIMM's. If you are using DIMM's then you have to move on to the next fork in the road. This is you need to know if you are using Standard DIMM's or the increasingly popular DDR DIMM's. The Standard DIMM's are labelled PC100 or PC133. You will still find these slots available on today's boards although they maybe couple with some DDR slots as well.

DDR DIMM's

DDR DIMM's have firmly taken hold of the market. These are like the standard DIMM's but work at double the speed. (DDR = Double Data Rate) In technical terms it uses both the rise and fall of the signal wave to transfer data. All you need to worry about is that it transmits twice the amount of data per second as the standard DIMM's. DDR memory is referred to as PC2100, PC2600 and upwards.

RIMM's 

Rambus Inline memory Module - Very high priced memory to be found mostly in machines with high end Intel processors such as the P4. If you have RIMM's or Rambus then you will need to make very sure that your motherboard has the available slots. You should be looking at Motherboards made for Intel CPU's and at the high end of the market. 

You may find that your memory doesn't fit into the board you want. This can be a common downfall if you have RIMM. Unfortunately due to the cost of RIMM's you may not want to get rid of it. This brings around a rather unfortunate situation of having to choose you computer around the memory. If you can avoid it then do. Chances are though that if you already have RIMM's you already have a fast computer.

*NOTE - Even though some motherboards state that some memory types can be used together in a working system, Personally I recommend that you never mix memory types in any situation. With the exception when using faster memory than required. i.e. Using PC133 memory in a PC100 system is perfectly acceptable, but not vice versa. 

Next - Expansion slots