Okay I promised myself i wouldnt post hardware type "perfect systems for V4" replies but your apology has swayed me this one time. To find out more about CAS Latency in a simple to read article go to:

http://www.corsairmicro.com/main/techrgtb-index.html

Then click on "CAS Latency: What is It, and How Does It Affect Performance?"

I tend to use google or Vegas Archive for most of my hardware questions. That took me less than 1 minute with google.

Also reread my post about what system should i buy:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=193485&Replies=2&Page=1

I think the reason people are getting tired of answering the perfect system type of questions is because they get asked the same ones everyday and the answer really hasnt changed. I spent 3 months (off and on) reading the Vegas 3 Archive before i even created an account and started posting. Ive been guilty of asking some pretty simple or stupid questions but that is because the search term(s) that i entered turned up little or nothing. Please use google for technical terms like (FSB, Cache, etc...)

Starixiom; I hope you get this thank you. You seem to be a very nice, and patient, person. I'm very grateful! ! !

Tony

RDRAM (Rambus) was developed because it offers exceptional bandwidth-to-cost ratios.
Systems designed with this type of ram offer the highest bandwidth per pin which reduces the overall component costs in a system. When it was first introduced the costs of the Rimm modules skyrocketed for awhile making them an unattractive alternative thereby extending the life of new SDRAM systems. With the introduction of DDRAM and higher density SDRAM modules, the cost of Rambus modules came way down and are used in many systems by the top manufacturers. They must be used in pairs.
I would not, however, buy a system just because it has RDRAM. A system is a total package and must be evaluated as such especially through user experience.
CAS LATENCY is a memory timing term referring to the ratio between the Column Access Time and the Clock Cycle time or CL=t(cac)/t(clk). The CPU sends a signal specifying the memory row it wants to access through the Random Access Strobe (RAS) and after a specific period of time sends a signal on the CAS line (Column Access Strobe) specifying the row it wants to access. Then it goes to output and is transferred to the next clock tick. The CPU expects the data on a specific clock tick. How many clock ticks is the CAS Latency. Two clock ticks for CAS-2 ram and Three clock ticks for CAS-3 ram. The practical difference (measured in nanoseconds) is insignificant unless you are overclocking (a practice I would not recommend especially for video work).
CAS Latency specs pertain to SDRAMand DDRAM, but not to RDRAM. Default settings in the Bios are usually for CAS-3 Ram.

John

Your thank you has been received and noted.

Best of luck in creating your dream NLE. The only advice i can give is budget most of your money for Motherboard, RAM, and PSU. Do not scoff if you go to the Supermicro site and find a mobo that costs $300 or more that has the features you want. It will be worth it in the long run.

What Craftech said before is true about the differences with DDR and RDRAM. CAS doesnt effect RDRAM, However i use RDRAM in my system because that is only what my board supports. DDR is just as good (meaning in real world situation and not in some testing facility created in a vacuum.) DDR tends to be favored by most system builders and a lot of manufactures of Motherboards support DDR. 512mb or 1gb should be enough for any video work. Remember Vegas does its preview through RAM so technically you can have a better preview picture the more ram you allocate to vegas.

John: Thanks very much for such a detailed answer, I'm very grateful! ! !

Tony

Hey tony, not to seem rude or anything, but are you being told to ask these questions by your or something? I'm not trying to be mean, but you ask the same questiosn my bos asked me when I was building a Vegas computer. He didn't trust my answers and reasearch, and wanted me to post "stupid" questions onthe forum like "how long would it take to render a 30s clip on an AMD XP 2600 processor" and "which cpu would be better" and things like that.

I've found thet BEST way to see how good things are is to just search in some search engines for reviews. www.motherboards.org is a good start. With the time you're spending asking us detailed technical questions (which have no definate asnwer 90% of the time) it wouldbe easier, and more informational, to just search the web. Also, from my experience, specs don't always lead the the best system.

If you want to get the BEST system then get the one you THINK is the best. There is always something better. Trust me, I know.

Can appreciate where you're coming from T.H.Friar :c

FWIW, OT & just personal experience, 99% of the time best off playing dumb unless it's part of your job desription at work. Same goes in my experience for a lot of areas of expertise, whether you're fixing cars or building systems. IN a situation like with your boss, I think personally I'd give him a statement, this is what you should get, no if's or and's or qualifiers, stated in a way that allowed no room for questions or anything else. Then I'd give him a list of systems from someone like Dell, and let him follow up. If he insisted on my posting, I'd create a new ID, make a lame, obnoxious post (perhaps following the bosses personality ;p) and show him it was ignored.

Anyway you look at it, it's a losing proposition best avoided, as even someone with no authority over you, say a neighbor, is likely to not follow your advice, then come angrily over to get your help, blaming you because they didn't follow your directions. Been there, done that, and if nothing else learned the take it or leave it when cornered approach, perfectly satisfied if whomever ignores whatever I've said.

Back on topic, if it does anyone any good, a lot of the ram stuff is actually of little concern in a lot of cases. For one, you can't play with the settings in many a bios, and two, won't make an earth shattering difference unless you're benchmarking quake 3 performance. Try to buy a brand name, or go with generic that has micron chips, and make sure you can return it if your board rejects it - along those lines, a lot of retail sales, everyone has ram on sale this week where you can pick it up localy and return it easily at places like BestBuy or OfficeMax, assuming you can tie up your cash waiting for rebates.

Lower CAS latency is better then higher, within reasonable price guidelines... A little more is one thing, but wouldn't pay a lot more for shorter ratings. I'd pay attention to the memory bus speed/architecture on the board, get memory that is rated at the same speed, hopefully for the best price. Sites like Kingston, crucial, etc. will have info on this speeds etc. and how that relates to stuff like ddr 2700 and so on.