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sdram-dimm or edo dimm

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5 replies

by europanorama

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my board no 1 tells me i can eighter use 3x128mb sdram or 3x 256 edo. i have only 3x168pin-dimm-slots.
my second board says: 3x128(8Mx8) or 3x256 16mx4 registered. is there a tools telling me if my existing modules are the right ones?
all must beunbuffered. is buffered inferior? is registered superior or does it depend on the machine?

the order does only matter for optimum ma time. how do i know them?

5 replies

by cg it

There really aren't any Tools (software) that will tell whether or not your existing memory modules will work with different boards.
You should read the manual of the board your considering purchasing by going to the board web site and downloadingtheir online version of their manual and read the board requirements for memory. If I read your question right, both boards accept Sdram, both boards use 168 pin dimm slots for memory and both require you to use a maximum of 256 MB per dimm module, and that your existing memory modules are within that framework. Therefore, your existing memory should work in either board.

by thechas

Hello again Michael,

For either motherboard, what is the operating system, and intended use?
For Windows 98/Me, definetly stick with the 3*128MB SDRAM.
There is a bug in Windows 9X that can cause Windows to ignore the first 512MB of RAM if morethan 511MB of memory is installed.
I set up ALL of my Windows 9X PCs with between 196, and 384MB or RAM.

As to usage, the SDRAM will run a little bit faster than the EDO RAM will.
However, if you are running XP, and plan to work with large graphics files, the larger amount of RAM with the EDO DIMMs may be better.

As to your secondary questions;

Buffered RAM isn't inferior, or better than unbuffered, just different.
It is a hold-over from the earlier days of PCs, and just is not usedmuch anymore.

Registered memory is "technically" better than unregistered memory.
Registered memory is usually specified for critical high reliability systems.
It has been tested more thouroughly than regular memory, and has better error checking.
However, you have to pay a lot more for registered memory than for "normal" memory.

I have had good luck myself looking up the specifiactions on the web site of either the company that made the RAM chips on the DIMM, or the company that assembled the DIMM.

I try my best to match the DIMMs in a given system as closely as possible. This improves performance, and reduces memory related blue screens.

Chas

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