There are only a few major issues in today's computer world that people argue about. There is the Mac versus PC argument. There is the AMD versus Intel argument. There is the NVIDIA versus 3dfx argument. And, of course, there is the DDR SDRAM versus RDRAM argument.

Up until this point, the DDR versus RDRAM argument has been a bit difficult to handle simply because there were no DDR chipsets available, but that has changed, at least for us here at the Sharky Extreme Lab and Resort.

For the first time, we have had some hands-on experience with a DDR motherboard. Tyan was gracious enough to lend us a beta motherboard, model Trinity A762, which is based upon AMD's 760 DDR chipset and should ship sometime in November for less than $200. With an AGP slot, six PCI slots, four memory slots for up to 2GB of RAM, onboard AC'97 audio and ATA/100, this 4-layer board is aimed directly at the high-end, Socket A, Athlon Thunderbird desktop user.

We took one of Tyan's beta Trinity A762 motherboards and ran it through a battery of benchmarks in our lab to determine just how good DDR memory is.

Is DDR memory faster than RDRAM? What do the performance numbers tell? The battle lines are drawn. The soldiers face off across the field. It's time to fire the DDR opening salvo. Read on to find out how DDR performs.