RAM Upgrade Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Martin Thomas
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Martin Thomas

I'm considering upping my memory on my pc. I currently have a couple of
256Mb cards in and looking at putting a minimum of a 1Gb card in.

Current cards are pc2100 256-DDR 266Mhz; can I replace with a different
Mhz rating, say 333 if the motherboard supports it?

Thanks for any support.

P.S. Just had a quick look at motherboard and it looks to be a ECS and
along side the memory slots is written DDR 400 so should this be
running 400Mhz cards?
 
If your motherboard supports it then the answer is yes but.
If the FSB of your processor only requires 266Mhz ram then the faster memory
will not buy you anything (performance increase) unless you later plan to
upgrade the processor to one that supports DDR 400.

JS
 
Get the Bel Arc free Advisor program. www.baelarc.com and
it will identify your motherboard my make, model and serial
number. Then get the motherboard manual from the maker's
website. It will have details on the BIOS and supported
RAM.

All the RAM modules must be the same. The mobo controls the
actual speed but if the RAM is of different specs, it may
not boot or it may be unstable.


message |
| I'm considering upping my memory on my pc. I currently
have a couple of
| 256Mb cards in and looking at putting a minimum of a 1Gb
card in.
|
| Current cards are pc2100 256-DDR 266Mhz; can I replace
with a different
| Mhz rating, say 333 if the motherboard supports it?
|
| Thanks for any support.
|
| P.S. Just had a quick look at motherboard and it looks to
be a ECS and
| along side the memory slots is written DDR 400 so should
this be
| running 400Mhz cards?
|
|
|
|
| --
| Martin Thomas
 
Martin Thomas said:
I'm considering upping my memory on my pc. I currently have a couple of
256Mb cards in and looking at putting a minimum of a 1Gb card in.

Current cards are pc2100 256-DDR 266Mhz; can I replace with a different
Mhz rating, say 333 if the motherboard supports it?

Thanks for any support.

P.S. Just had a quick look at motherboard and it looks to be a ECS and
along side the memory slots is written DDR 400 so should this be
running 400Mhz cards?
Click to expand...

Get the exact motherboard model number (it should be stencilled on the
board, probably in one of the gaps between the PCI slots) and then
check the actual specs at the ECS website.

You could also use AIDA32 (free) from
http://www.aumha.org/downloads/aida32.zip and it should include both
the make and model of the motherboard in the information it reports.

For one thing you need to ensure that it will in fact support 1 gb RAM
modules. Many boards that are a few years old do not.

As for your new RAM you could have a problem if try to mix your old
RAM with new module(s). RAM from different manufacturers, or even
from the same manufacturer but from different production runs, can
have internal differences in the physical layout and/or the material
composition of the memory modules. These differences can affect the
strength and timing of the signals returned from the RAM and Windows
is sensitive to these differences. They can result in serious error
problems and/or stability issues.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Thanks for catching my error, been typing that link for
years, I saw it correctly.
www.belarc.com is correct.

| Your Bel Arc link is misspelled, it should be
www.belarc.com
|
in message
| | > Get the Bel Arc free Advisor program. www.baelarc.com
and
| > it will identify your motherboard my make, model and
serial
| > number. Then get the motherboard manual from the
maker's
| > website. It will have details on the BIOS and supported
| > RAM.
| >
| > All the RAM modules must be the same. The mobo controls
the
| > actual speed but if the RAM is of different specs, it
may
| > not boot or it may be unstable.
| >
| >
| > "Martin Thomas" <[email protected]>
wrote in
| > message | > |
| > | I'm considering upping my memory on my pc. I currently
| > have a couple of
| > | 256Mb cards in and looking at putting a minimum of a
1Gb
| > card in.
| > |
| > | Current cards are pc2100 256-DDR 266Mhz; can I replace
| > with a different
| > | Mhz rating, say 333 if the motherboard supports it?
| > |
| > | Thanks for any support.
| > |
| > | P.S. Just had a quick look at motherboard and it looks
to
| > be a ECS and
| > | along side the memory slots is written DDR 400 so
should
| > this be
| > | running 400Mhz cards?
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > |
| > | --
| > | Martin Thomas
| >
| >
|
|
 
Martin said:
I'm considering upping my memory on my pc. I currently have a couple of
256Mb cards in and looking at putting a minimum of a 1Gb card in.

Current cards are pc2100 256-DDR 266Mhz; can I replace with a different
Mhz rating, say 333 if the motherboard supports it?

Thanks for any support.

P.S. Just had a quick look at motherboard and it looks to be a ECS and
along side the memory slots is written DDR 400 so should this be
running 400Mhz cards?
Click to expand...


It is absolutely essential that any new RAM module(s) be fully
compatible with both the motherboard and/or any other RAM module(s)
already in the system. Additionally, there are sometimes jumper
switches on older motherboards that need to be reset for new RAM
configurations. Consult your motherboard's manual or the
manufacturer's web site for specific instructions and compatibility
requirements.

If you cannot lay your hands upon the computer's manual and the
manufacturer doesn't provide a support web site, you can use these
utilities to help determine the correct type of RAM needed:

SiSoft's Sandra
http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.php?dir=&location=sware_dl&lang=en

Belarc Advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Unlimited Possibilities' AIDA32
http://forum.aumha.org/overflow/aida32.zip

Also, Crucial Memory's web site (www.crucial.com) has a database
to help to find the right RAM for your specific make and model
computer and/or motherboard.


--

Bruce Chambers

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