PC RAM - a beginners guide ?

[Channel Hopper]

Anyone here able to point me to a site that deals with the various types and fitting irregularities ?

Ive seen various different sticks of RAM in the three PCs I have open here, each appears to have their own architecture and sizes , 32, 64, 128 and even 256 , but the wording is different on each PC66 , 133 and so on ( I assume this is the operational speed) - but a couple have different pin spacing to the usual 84, in the three stage slot on the motherboard. Iassume these are for a hight spec board (P4 ?) but any help would be appreciated to the identifying and upgrading to the optimum match for the PC.

Is it a black science , or a question of running a programme to see how fast it goes ?

 

[mhku]

If you have a Dell there's a program to tell you what you have. Otherwise it depends on what your BIOS supports (speed) and the physical size on the MB: 72 pin, 144 pin etc. If you have PC's with 32 pin they're called "antiques" ;)

Have a look at crucial.com for a basic guide.

 

[Llew]

This site gives details of various RAM modules, speeds etc. -

h**p://education.vsnl.com/samsguide/ram.html

Llew

 

[PoloMint]

If your ram is in anything remotely modern (P2 upwards) then it will probably be either SDRAM or DDR SDRAM.

You can tell the difference by the number of cut outs on the pin side of the module. Two cut outs (first picture) and its 3.3v SDRAM. One cut out (second picture) and its 2.5v DDR-SDRAM.

Then there is just the speed, (the PC rating) which is always backwards compatible, so a PC133 module will work in a PC100 system and a DDR3200 module will work in a DDR 2700 system.

Apart from that there is the CAS latency, with the lower number being the best. CAS2.5 or 3.0. Unless you are a real tweaker it doesn’t really make that much difference.

Apart from that the only other problem might be that some boards need double sided modules for high amounts (that’s chips on both sides of the modules rather than just one), but you will need to check the manual, or just test it, to see.

The easiest way to see if one stick of ram will work in a particular board is just to try it, if it physically fits in the board then you won’t damage it by trying it.

 

[Rob]

Hope this is of some help as I only upgraded my PC two weeks ago. I got in touch with a firm called Crucial Technology (www.crucial.com) who were able to scan my PC for compatibility and advise me about the size of upgrade that I required.
First class service, not expensive and super fast postage.

You don't have to buy as you can have your PC scanned (and no spyware either) before you get to the payment section.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks. This is for a PC that hopefully never gets to connect to the Net so online searching is out.

Ive been scrounging some duff units from the local dump for the cost of a drink and it looks like I can build up one thats fast enough to run the Skystar 2 finally.

Will check the main features of the chipsets, but (polomint), Ive already found that a couple of sticks fit, but are off a server unit and so have a different architecture which is not recognised by a consumer board.

The P4 sticks are different in cutouts completely I can see.