Old moherboard RAM upgrade.

  • Thread starter Thread starter MS
  • Start date Start date
M

MS

Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM. The
Asus website had no info. available and the motherboard manual is long
gone. I need advise on what RAM to buy, because there are so many types of
SIMM RAM and I have only some idea what kind of potential problems might
arise; wrong voltage, too fast, etc.

Does anyone know what kind of RAM I must buy for this motherboard so I can
achieve a 256MB RAM upgrade?

Many thanks.
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM. The
Asus website had no info. available and the motherboard manual is long
gone. I need advise on what RAM to buy, because there are so many types of
SIMM RAM and I have only some idea what kind of potential problems might
arise; wrong voltage, too fast, etc.

Does anyone know what kind of RAM I must buy for this motherboard so I can
achieve a 256MB RAM upgrade?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Any help?

http://tinyurl.com/mt462

Chris
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM. The
Asus website had no info. available and the motherboard manual is long
gone. I need advise on what RAM to buy, because there are so many types of
SIMM RAM and I have only some idea what kind of potential problems might
arise; wrong voltage, too fast, etc.

Does anyone know what kind of RAM I must buy for this motherboard so I can
achieve a 256MB RAM upgrade?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

If it's an old TX board with cache memory on the board, then there is
an issue that it will only cache 64MB, the rest will be un-cached.
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM.
Click to expand...

What usally happens is the motherboard will read the dimms and ignore
the simms. So Yeah, it's a bad idea.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...boards&mfr=ASUS&tabid=AM&model=TXP4&submit=Go

It looks like a pair of 128MB PC66 would work better. Pull you current
simms.

SDRAM, PC66 · CL=2 · Unbuffered · Non-parity · 66MHz · 3.3V
· 16Meg x 64

No, you don't have to buy from crucial. You can get them cheaper.

The thing with the 64MB simms, is they're gonna cost more. And may not
be compatible.

The PC-66 is also gonna be faster. Where you can put pc-66, you can
usually also put pc100 or 133, which is more common.
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM. The
Asus website had no info. available and the motherboard manual is long
gone. I need advise on what RAM to buy, because there are so many types of
SIMM RAM and I have only some idea what kind of potential problems might
arise; wrong voltage, too fast, etc.

Does anyone know what kind of RAM I must buy for this motherboard so I can
achieve a 256MB RAM upgrade?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

Further to my reply, see also
http://www.intel.com/design/support/faq/embed_chipset/430hx.htm

"The Intel 430HX PCIset can cache up to 512 MB, while the Intel 430TX PCIset
can cache 64 MB of memory. Each of these chipsets can handle a system with
as much memory as the chipset's maximum memory size, but they will perform
optimally when all of the memory is cached. For this reason performance may
slow slightly when a system operates with more memory than its chipset can
cache."
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM,
Click to expand...
Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of 256MB
using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.
Click to expand...

Get a new motherboard since that one can cache only 64M of memory, so
expanding to 256M will hardly improve the speed. I'm not a computer
faddist who believes in upgrading at every whim, but a 430TX system is
just not good enough for Windows 2000. A contemporary motherboard and
AMD Athlon64 or Sempron64 are often available for under $100, but
you'll need new memory and a new power supply.
I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM.
Click to expand...

Unless you already have those SIMMs, it would probably be cheaper and
better to get a 256M DIMM compatible with PC66 or PC100. Some 256M
PC133 modules meet that standard, those with 16Mx8 chips. That usually
means 16 chips, but you cannot use a 16-chip module containing 32Mx4
chips. The TXP4's Intel 430TX chip set does support 256M DIMMs.

The reason SIMMs and DIMMs shouldn't be mixed is because in almost
every motherboard they share the same memory bus, but the SIMMs use 5V
signals while the DIMMs use 3.3V signals, and the higher voltage of the
SIMM signals will gradually destroy the DIMM chips. Some DIMM chips
can tolerate the 5V signals, and some motherboard chip sets, probably
made by SiS, keep the SIMMs and DIMMs on separate buses.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote
MS wrote
Click to expand...
Get a new motherboard since that one can cache only 64M of
memory, so expanding to 256M will hardly improve the speed.
Click to expand...

That's overstating it. Even uncached system ram will be a
hell of a lot faster than the virtual memory on the hard drive.
I'm not a computer faddist who believes in upgrading at every whim,
but a 430TX system is just not good enough for Windows 2000.
Bullshit.

A contemporary motherboard and AMD Athlon64 or
Sempron64 are often available for under $100, but
you'll need new memory and a new power supply.
Click to expand...
Unless you already have those SIMMs, it would probably be cheaper
and better to get a 256M DIMM compatible with PC66 or PC100.
Click to expand...

Plenty of those old socket 7 systems dont like some dimms
and work much better with simms, much more likely to work.
 
What usally happens is the motherboard will read the dimms and ignore the
simms. So Yeah, it's a bad idea.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...boards&mfr=ASUS&tabid=AM&model=TXP4&submit=Go

It looks like a pair of 128MB PC66 would work better. Pull you current
simms.

SDRAM, PC66 · CL=2 · Unbuffered · Non-parity · 66MHz · 3.3V · 16Meg
x 64

No, you don't have to buy from crucial. You can get them cheaper.

The thing with the 64MB simms, is they're gonna cost more. And may not be
compatible.

The PC-66 is also gonna be faster. Where you can put pc-66, you can
usually also put pc100 or 133, which is more common.
Click to expand...

I'd go with the Crucial suggested upgrade of 2 128mg PC66 and nothing
more. Less chance of failure and headaches if you're going to spend the
money. Newer chips might not be the right memory module density
acceptable to your m/b. If you have to RMA the memory postage adds up
to a new system.

W2k should work better with 256mg ram IIRC W2k spec'd for 128mg ram.
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM. The
Asus website had no info. available and the motherboard manual is long
gone. I need advise on what RAM to buy, because there are so many types of
SIMM RAM and I have only some idea what kind of potential problems might
arise; wrong voltage, too fast, etc.

Does anyone know what kind of RAM I must buy for this motherboard so I can
achieve a 256MB RAM upgrade?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

If you cant replace the machine with something quicker, cross-grading
to win98 would help a lot. That runs ok on 64, and 256 is its
sweetspot. Then you can strip the various unnecesary junk from 98 to
make it sleeker, reorganise the start menu for quick easy use, add
firewall, av, a decent replacements for text editor, word processing,
sound player, and so on, put crashdoctor on to make it all more stable,
and use winsolo for single heavyweight app use, add wintop, coral task
manager, taskill, star office, etc. The downsides of 98 are less
stability and security, the upsides are it runs a lot better on
machines of SIMM socket age, as its lighter and has better user
navigation.

DIMMs would probably be cheaper than SIMMs for you. 128 DIMMs are
available from junked machines, but it sounds like the junkers would be
better than what youve got. So I'm wondering why not replace the whole
machine. What are the specs of this dino?


NT
 
MS said:
Hi,

I have an old PC which I've just turned into a music machine and (living
room) web access. It runs Win 2000 Pro (just) but everything is very slow
to load and I mean SLOW. The reason is it has just 64MB RAM, but virtual
memory is using about 200MB, plainly I need a RAM upgrade.

The motherboard is an Asus TXP4 which apparently has a max RAM capacity of
256MB using 4 (2 banks of 2) x SIMM and 2 x DIMM.

I understand that it's usually a bad idea to mix SIMM and DIMM memory, so
it seems my best bet is to get 256MB RAM by using 4 x 64MB SIMM RAM. The
Asus website had no info. available and the motherboard manual is long
gone. I need advise on what RAM to buy, because there are so many types of
SIMM RAM and I have only some idea what kind of potential problems might
arise; wrong voltage, too fast, etc.

Does anyone know what kind of RAM I must buy for this motherboard so I can
achieve a 256MB RAM upgrade?

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

If you cant replace the machine with something quicker, cross-grading
to win98 would help a lot. That runs ok on 64, and 256 is its
sweetspot. Then you can strip the various unnecesary junk from 98 to
make it sleeker, reorganise the start menu for quick easy use, add
firewall, av, a decent replacements for text editor, word processing,
sound player, and so on, put crashdoctor on to make it all more stable,
and use winsolo for single heavyweight app use, add wintop, coral task
manager, taskill, star office, etc. The downsides of 98 are less
stability and security, the upsides are it runs a lot better on
machines of SIMM socket age, as its lighter and has better user
navigation.

DIMMs would probably be cheaper than SIMMs for you. 128 DIMMs are
available from junked machines, but it sounds like the junkers would be
better than what youve got. So I'm wondering why not replace the whole
machine. What are the specs of this dino?


NT
 
(e-mail address removed) emailed this:
If you cant replace the machine with something quicker, cross-grading
to win98 would help a lot. That runs ok on 64, and 256 is its
sweetspot. Then you can strip the various unnecesary junk from 98 to
make it sleeker, reorganise the start menu for quick easy use, add
firewall, av, a decent replacements for text editor, word processing,
sound player, and so on, put crashdoctor on to make it all more stable,
and use winsolo for single heavyweight app use, add wintop, coral task
manager, taskill, star office, etc. The downsides of 98 are less
stability and security, the upsides are it runs a lot better on
machines of SIMM socket age, as its lighter and has better user
navigation.

DIMMs would probably be cheaper than SIMMs for you. 128 DIMMs are
available from junked machines, but it sounds like the junkers would be
better than what youve got. So I'm wondering why not replace the whole
machine. What are the specs of this dino?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise.
 
Rod Speed emailed this:
(e-mail address removed) wrote


That's overstating it. Even uncached system ram will be a
hell of a lot faster than the virtual memory on the hard drive.
Click to expand...

Ok, so I understand the issue with the lack of caching. But don't want to
go to the added expense of a new motherboard, the PC is after all just a
glorified jukebox.

I can get the memory from Crucial...

"168-pin DIMM 128MB SDRAM, PC66 • CL=2 • Unbuffered • Non-parity • 66MHz •
3.3V • 16Meg x 64"

...but 2 x 128MB will cost £50 (~US$100) and I can't find it anywhere else
except on EBay where I can only get 1 x 128MB module instead of the 2 as I
originally planned.

My questions is that given the lack of cache beyond 64MB, would I be as
well off with 128MB as I would with 256MB?

Also another poster wrote that pc100 or 133 might work. This is much
cheaper than the pc66, what are the chances of it running on my motherboard?

Many thanks.
 
jaster emailed this:
I'd go with the Crucial suggested upgrade of 2 128mg PC66 and nothing
more. Less chance of failure and headaches if you're going to spend the
money. Newer chips might not be the right memory module density
acceptable to your m/b. If you have to RMA the memory postage adds up
to a new system.

W2k should work better with 256mg ram IIRC W2k spec'd for 128mg ram.
Click to expand...

Ironically the pc100 or 133 are much cheaper than the pc66, less than half
the price. What are the chances of it working on the ASUS TXP4? AFAICT the
manual (URL below) doesn't even mention the speed (PC66) required, but the
Crucial website points firmly to the pc66 and does not list pc100/133.

ftp://dlsvr02.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock7/430tx/txp4/txp4-200.pdf

Any advise would be welcome. Thanks.
 
If you cant replace the machine with something quicker, cross-grading
to win98 would help a lot. That runs ok on 64, and 256 is its
sweetspot.
Click to expand...

With over 64M on an Intel 438TX motherboard, Windows 98 and 98SE have a
loader problem that could prevent them from operating.
 
MS said:
Also another poster wrote that pc100 or 133 might work. This is much
cheaper than the pc66, what are the chances of it running on my motherboard?
Click to expand...

PC100 will definitely work. PC133 will work if it's also
PC100-compatible, that is, each of its chips is 16M x 8, not 32M x 4 or
a larger size. Most PC133 currently available is not PC100 compatible.
 
(e-mail address removed) emailed this:
With over 64M on an Intel 438TX motherboard, Windows 98 and 98SE have a
loader problem that could prevent them from operating.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I just realized that the Wireless card in it is 2000/XP/Linux only.

Cheers.
 
(e-mail address removed) emailed this:
PC100 will definitely work. PC133 will work if it's also
PC100-compatible, that is, each of its chips is 16M x 8, not 32M x 4 or
a larger size. Most PC133 currently available is not PC100 compatible.
Click to expand...

Many thanks. May I ask how you know for sure? It would be a real pain to
buy it just to send it back.

Cheers for your help.
 
(e-mail address removed) emailed this:

Thanks. I just realized that the Wireless card in it is 2000/XP/Linux only.

Cheers.
Click to expand...


Given careful pruning of the services, and apps running in
the background, Win2k can still do acceptibly on 128MB for
very basic uses. More advanced uses, there's a narrow
opportity to free up another 30MB or so of memory by using
Win98, but already having Win2k on it, I'd leave it on
there.

Due to the costs of memory back in the PC66 era, 128MB DIMMs
were less common- certainly not unheard of but at the time
the average system sold had maybe 32-64MB in it.

You might call some local computer shops, they may be
throwing away memory like this or selling it cheap (maybe
$10 per module or less), and hopefully with at least a
guarantee that it works on your system.
 
MS wrote:

[...]
Also another poster wrote that pc100 or 133 might work. This is much
cheaper than the pc66, what are the chances of it running on my
motherboard?
Click to expand...

There's loads of PC100 128MB sticks on eBay for around 6UKP inc postage. Why
not get a couple and try them? If you can't afford to loose 12 quid, flog
them back on eBay!

Chris
 
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