Newbie PCB design and SMD soldering questions

[moth]

Hi,

I would like to know if this method of making a PCB (I think they call it the Toner Transfer method?) would work if I needed a circuit that would drive digital signals between a microprocessor and a DDR SDRAM @ 133 MHz (and 200 MHz?) near it on board:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-and-Easy-Toner-Transfer-for-PCB-Making/

I'm new into this. I don't know what "variables" matter when designing a PCB board. For example, does the thickness of the tracks matter (I don't mean the thickness "bidimensionally", I mean its depth)? How can I affect that? Etc.. Could somebody enlighten me here? In synthesis, what care must be taken when designing a board for fast data transfer? And how can I simulate designs to make sure there won't be much noise between tracks and etc?

I know this information is widely available on the internet. It's only there is almost too much, so I'm quite lost here ;D

And just in case.. is soldering SMD components manually at home a good idea? I mean.. think those 256 pin, high density ICs... Do people even do that manually? If not, how can a hobbist do that? Won't it be too expensive?

Thanks,
The moth

[jerrydavid]

256pins SMD component?  what is package type? QFP? You can try, but if you are not experienced man, you will give up...

You might need to read something about high speed digital design before you start you PCB tracking. Impedence control, ground bounding, cross talk, signal integrity. A lot of issue you should take care and all this should be find from a book called "High speed digital design" edited by Howard Johnson.