Memory chip question

[RF]

I have an old (1990's ) computer that I use for a backup and it's been
remarkably reliable. A far newer computer went belly up because the sleeve
bearing of the CPU cooling fan ran very slowly and hot and gave off a hot
plastic smell. I'll go into this later when I take it up with the supplier.
Right now I am getting a "..... dxapi.sys could not locate the entry
point...." Will be back soon on this one. Thanks for reading it

Meantime, I have a box with an old Intel board and only 128 MB memory. 380
is actually the max but it's 3 times better than what I have now and I'd
like to reach that. The two existing chips are
1 Syncmax NEC, 8M8 R000201 and PC100.
2 Kingston Value Ram KVR PC100/64 CE.

I also have another PC100 chip but it's quite different - SD Ram 8Mx64 (512
MB). The PC100s match but the SD Ram seems quite different. I would guess
that 128 MB (capacity of each slot) of that chip might be usable but would
the SD Ram be incompatible. If not, I guess I'll have to visit the local
dump and look for a few chips that might work

RF

 

[Joel]

I have an old (1990's ) computer that I use for a backup and it's been
remarkably reliable. A far newer computer went belly up because the sleeve
bearing of the CPU cooling fan ran very slowly and hot and gave off a hot
plastic smell. I'll go into this later when I take it up with the supplier.
Right now I am getting a "..... dxapi.sys could not locate the entry
point...." Will be back soon on this one. Thanks for reading it

Meantime, I have a box with an old Intel board and only 128 MB memory. 380
is actually the max but it's 3 times better than what I have now and I'd
like to reach that. The two existing chips are
1 Syncmax NEC, 8M8 R000201 and PC100.
2 Kingston Value Ram KVR PC100/64 CE.

I also have another PC100 chip but it's quite different - SD Ram 8Mx64 (512
MB). The PC100s match but the SD Ram seems quite different. I would guess
that 128 MB (capacity of each slot) of that chip might be usable but would
the SD Ram be incompatible. If not, I guess I'll have to visit the local
dump and look for a few chips that might work

RF

Toss to dumpster and spend the energy on better system. It's so cheap
these days to make your life like hell. About the belly fan, you can always
replace the fan with a working fan and it's pretty cheap too.

 

[CBFalconer]

?? it's been remarkably reliable. A far newer computer went belly
up
.... snip ...

Toss to dumpster and spend the energy on better system. It's so
cheap these days to make your life like hell. About the belly fan,
you can always replace the fan with a working fan and it's pretty
cheap too.

Nonsense. Older machines, that have survivied, are probably more
reliable. My main machine is 10 years old. It has had memory and
disks enlarged. The memory became ECC. It just runs.

The point is that these machines have long passed their baby
failures. They also haven't avoided standard i/o, such as serial
and parallel ports.

 

[Joel]

?? it's been remarkably reliable. A far newer computer went belly
up
... snip ...

Nonsense. Older machines, that have survivied, are probably more
reliable. My main machine is 10 years old. It has had memory and
disks enlarged. The memory became ECC. It just runs.

The point is that these machines have long passed their baby
failures. They also haven't avoided standard i/o, such as serial
and parallel ports.

If you want to make sense then BUY that older machines so the man have
some $$$ to buy a newer machine. That will make more sense cuz it's the
best solution for both worlds.

1. You like the older machine

2. The man needs a working machine

 

[CBFalconer]

Some older mainboards and PSU were very reliable. IIRC, one
of your systems has an Intel OEM/retail SE440BX motherboard
which is a good but rare example of boards built with higher
quality capacitors per current consumed than anything build
until recently when manufacturers started switching to use
of solid capacitors.

Precisely the model I have.

.... snip ...

Parallel and serial ports are nice to have, but some modern
tech can be nicer. Today integrated video is good enough
for anyone but a gamer and it is desirable to have a digital
output like DVI to support today's higher resolution LCD
monitors. Otherwise an analog connection is showing it's
limitations with blurred pixels or ghosting unless a very
high quality and short cable is used. Such a cable is not
usually included with monitors and even then it becomes a
limit as monitor resolutions continue to go up with
successive generations of LCD tech.

But the older machines have those ports built in, together with a
USB system. I can use everything. I don't game, but I run video
at 1280 x 1024 on a 19" monitor with no problems.

 

[Joel]

Another alternative is a parallel port pin header to locate
the port connector in an empty case card bracket slot, but
of the few mainboard manufacturers that include a parallel
port pin header, some of those don't include the extension
cable + bracket assembly anymore. Some of us have a box of
these old assemblies but most buying new hardware would not
and even if they did, would not have the basic ability to
determine whether the pinout was compatible.

I have been upgrading to newer systems every few years, first I tried to
keep the older systems hoping for some good use, but end up tossing them to
dumpster.

I do have few oversea friends those can use the older system, but the
shipping costs much more than a newer and better system. So they can't
benefit from my trash either.

 

[Joel]

There are lots of good uses, but whether the time or
electricity or space spent is worth the result, is the other
part of the equation as well as whether each aged component
is fit enough for another tour of duty. Email server,
DNS/web/proxy, fileserver/NAS, custom router/repeater/access
point/print server/etc. are all roles a roughly Pentium 2
era or better system can do with minimal concessions if
equipped with appropriate supportive components.

Personally I keep such a system around as a fileserver
because it just won't die (cross fingers) after being put
into that role years ago. Every now and then I think about
giving it more responsibilities like a DNS server when the
ISP DNS servers seem struggling and they refuse to reboot
them, or maybe a web cache/proxy but so much web content
these days is dynamically scripted to the point where the
time or resources saved by trying to cache it are minimal...
People are now chosing the most difficult or elaborate way
to do simple things because on the short menu it seems
easier to develop top-down instead of per-purpose.

The Monboard and faster CPU is way too cheap these days for me to care
about the older sys. So I just toss them to dumpster then replace with
faster CPU.

Or most of the CPU I paid $200-300 now is probably around $25-40 (if it's
not too old to be able to find it). Now I can get a faster combo for much
less price.

 

[Joel]

Hi helpful Guys

I solved this memory chip problem: 128 MB, PC100 SDRam 168 Pin - either
Micron or Samsung (both very good companies) for $3 (yes,THREE) each + tax
and shipping in Calif.
It is UpgradeSolution.com and I found it through Pricewatch.com. Some
outfits were charging up to $30 each.

Or you can get 4GB of DDR2 for around $35-50, along with cheap momboard
and CPU then you have a faster system with more memory for very little $$$$

 

[Joel]

Often less than that, HP recently had a rebate where 2 x 1Gb
DDR2 modules were free after rebate, up to 10GB worth.

I just hate buying 1GB modules when 2 x 2GB were recently 15
bucks after rebate in the US.

IMO, PCs have come to a point where spending a lot is only
justified if the higher performance is tied to higher income
during professional/gain uses.

I don't use 2x1GB as it eats up the valuable memory slot, so even on my
laptop I use (2) 1x2GB which I paid around $20 a pop. And with 2 sticks
it's up to 4GB

 

[Joel]

What does it matter? If you later wanted to upgrade the
memory you can just remove the 1GB modules... remembering
they were _free_, it is no loss to abandon them.

Then it will cost the (2) 1GB then (2) 2GB. If they are free then íts a
different story, and I will take as many as I can get, then I will sell it
to buy the 2GB or even 4GB version.