virtual channel memory

[phecky]

Noticed on Memman.com, VC memory for sale and was wondering if anybody has had used it and/or noticed increase in performance? He claims a 50-75% increase in graphics!? So what's up? Is virtual channel memory real deal or just another selling point?

[BFlurie]

I'd be leary of any product that doesn't allow a free trial period, unless it's a well-established, documented product -- ex., Partition Magic.

[Wiruz]

Bflurie> ASFAIK Virtual Channel SD is hardware - i don't know how they work but i would guess on some sort of DDR ripoff...

~Wiruz

[gyoung]

I remember seeing a recent review of it but I can't find it. From what I remember, it doesn't boost real world performance much, especially for the price. This is a quote from this page from Anandtech from April 4, 2000:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1214

While the memory controller boasts support for Virtual Channel SDRAM, we have yet to see a real reason for upgrading to VC100/VC133 SDRAM since the performance improvement over regular PC100/PC133 SDRAM is negligible in real world situations, which doesn't justify the price premium that you currently have to pay for it.


Description of how it works: http://www4.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1160&p=6

Old review... http://www.pcaccelerate.com/Memory/VCM-1/vcm-1.html

[phecky]

Gyoung:
That pcacclerate(sp) review indicates a performance increase and the price for VCmemory right now makes it an attractive option. $100 for 128MB. Hummmm, I could buy a stick and put it in my Duron system and use what I take out in my K6-2!

[gyoung]

Remember a couple of things. First, we don't see what type of PC133 memory they are testing. Second, the article is almost a year old. Third, the memory won't work in anything other than a VIA motherboard that supports it.

If I were you I would go for the PC133 memory from www.crucial.com. (http://www.crucial.com.) It's very good stuff for only $77 for 128MB of CAS2.

I'll try and find the recent article that did show that it's not the big thing.

Another thing. If it did improve performance by 60%-70% don't you think it would be all over these hardware sites?