Why dont they make RD Ram equipped PC anymore?

[nitro325is]

I have over 1 GB of RD RAM on my HP computer that I bought about 2 1/2 years ago.I upgraded it myself of course.Now Im looking at getting a newer PC and was looking for some that use RD RAM.I can tfind any popular manufactur that offers any with RD RAM.Why is that? I thought RD RAM was supposed to be a superior technology compared to the other types of ram out there.Other than RD Ram being more expensive why would HP, Dell, Gateway etc not offer any? Is there something I missed on the technology front?

[nando]

uhh, because RDRAM is a.) expensive b.) slower than DDR

oh, and Rambus (the makers of RDRAM) is an evil sue-happy corporation along the likes of SCO and the RIAA.

[mph]

RAMBUS has been in legal battles with the makers of SDRAM, which DDR falls under, over patents.

I'm really not sure if RAMBUS is faster or slower than DDR; there has been a lot of speculation about this. RAMBUS runs at 800mhz on a single channel. The newer DDR memory runs on dual channels, 400mhz per channel. Not sure about the newest DDR2 memory.

But RAMBUS orginally was supposed to be backed by Intel and supposed to be the memory Intel was going to push (even after the first P4's motherboards melting because of the memory's temperature, before they put heatsinks on the memory). Intel stopped pushing RAMBUS when RAMBUS started charging a fee to any manufacturer using the memory. Its so damn expensive, today, for that reason. There are only a few manufacturers of RDRAM.

I have RDRAM in my computer, 2048MB worth. I spent a pretty penny on it (close to $1300) back in 2002.

As far as why the main computer manufacturers aren't offering it anymore: Intel isn't backing it and it is expensive.

[DSchultz325e]

I have RDRAM in my computer, 2048MB worth. I spent a pretty penny on it (close to $1300) back in 2002.

Hah, jesus. I don't think all of the components in my computer, including monitor and speakers, totals to that much. It always sucks when they try to introduce something like that, where it is the top of the line stuff, only to be ousted by other technology a year later. Some crap off the top of my head: zip disks, Socket 754 (boo), wireless B, laserdiscs (not really computer related but whatever), there are probably other things, too.

[PanamaE30]

Rambus has more bandwidth.. DDR SDRAM has faster response...

using DDR SDRAM you'll likely never really exceed the transfer capability unless you just don't have enough memory. However, since DDR SDRAM has faster response, it's more apt for usage in things that are interactive, or, non-linear.

So, if you really wanna know why there's no RDRAM anymore... Gaming killed it. Gamers look for the most performance at the lowest price. Well, that's exactly what they got with DDR SDRAM, because it performed better (games are interactive, not linear in resource usage) and it's a helluva lot cheaper than RDRAM.

[Bokes]

i have RDRAM, and it fucking pisses me off. one, you have to match it when you upgrade. meaning since i have a 512 stick of it, if i wanted to upgrade, i have to buy another 512 stick, and thats way too fucking expensive.

DDR is cheaper, just as fast if not faster, and unless you get dual channel matched DDR ram, you don't have to match it when you upgrade. therefore DDR > RD.