RAM [Random Access Memory] is critical to the smooth and efficient operation of any computer. The MusicXPC uses only top-tier DDR333 RAM to ensure that this cornerstone of your computing experience leaves you with nothing to worry about.

Top Tier? What is that?
All RAM chips are not created equal. Very few companies actually make memory chips but several hundred sell memory modules [DRAM chips attached to a circuit board]. The top tier suppliers manufacture the entire module and place the DRAM chips under a severe battery of tests that include extremities in temperature. Chips are graded based on their performance. The ones that come in top-of-class go into memory modules from top-tier suppliers.

What happens to the ones that marginally fail? They are often thrown out, but some are re-tested and graded for lower speeds. Sometimes they are sold to third party vendors who re-brand the memory with their own names. This "generic memory" will save you a few dollars and likely work today when installed in your computer, but it is prone to failure over the long term because of fundamental flaws that existed from the beginning.

How much RAM does the MusicXPC come with?
Each MusicXPC comes with 512MB of top-tier, industry leading DDR333 RAM. You can expand this to 2GB, which is useful for customers with software samplers, doing large projects with high definition audio [24Bit/96KHz] or running multiple applications, e.g. under Rewire.

We chose DDR333 RAM because it is the best performing RAM for today's demanding music applications.

What is DDR RAM?
DDR RAM stands for Double Data Rate RAM. It is a breakthrough memory type which boosts the speed of complex graphics operations and achieves higher bandwidth in data transfers.

DDR RAM is like SDRAM only twice as fast. It may be convenient to think of DDR RAM as either 200 MHz (100 MHz x 2), 266 MHz (133 MHz x 2) or 333 MHz (166 MHz x 2).

These three types are referred to as PC1600, PC2100 and PC2700 respectively. These numbers refer to the peak bandwidth or data capacity of the RAM. That is, 1.6 GB/sec, 2.1 GB/sec and 2.7 GB/sec. This is a measurement of how fast the RAM can actually supply data to the processor.

Source: www.hardwarecentral.com

By contrast 800 MHz RDRAM has a peak bandwidth capacity of 1,600 MB/second. In practice the actual capacity of RDRAM is about 1.36 GB/second vs 1.37 GB/second for PC2100 DDR RAM. DDR RAM has effectively won the day and is the best choice.

When you combine top-tier DDR333 RAM with the MusicXPC's 533 MHz front side bus, the result is very fast, very reliable operation.