I want to add more ram to my system. Currently, there is (1 stick of) 64mb sdram 168 pin 100 mhz installed on the motherboard.

Would faster (133, ..) ram work? note: I can't find my motherboard manual and I can't find the brand name of the motherboard. I checked for 5 min with a flashlight!

Also, would 168 pin EDO ram work?

And can I possibly damage my moterboard if I install ANY 168 pin stick in the empty slots?

Thanks in advance for your help.

This I'm sure of: PC133 will work; it'll just run at PC100 speed.

EDO RAM? Doubt it'll work, and if so it would slow down your PC100 RAM - whether it would work depends on the bus speed (I think - maybe saphalline or someone else will come along and confirm or deny this).

Will it damage your motherboard if you use incompatible RAM? As long as you aren't trying to physically force something in that won't fit, no. It can, however, damage your RAM to run it at higher speeds than its rated for (running it slower is OK, though).

We're gonna need more info about your system before we can answer your questions. Download either Balarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) or Aida32 (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html) and use them to find more info than you'll ever need about your system.

Some older SDRAM chipsets won't accept PC133 (has to do with SDRAM's native SPD support) and some will accept both SDRAM and EDO but not at the same time (they're also easy to spot because they have two types of RAM slots).

As for that last question, it's highly uncommon but not unheard of for proprietary OEM systems. This is especially true for anyone out there unfortunate enough to have one of the prototype 5V SDRAM systems (very weird workstations/servers - very few actually made).

Finally, with an older chipset, you'll be limited by the amount of RAM you can install. Not only in terms of how much RAM can be on one stick, but also pay attention to the module density (many older chipsets topped out at 64/128Mbit modules).

As you can see, this isn't one of those cut-and-dried questions. It all depends on your chipset, number of RAM slots, BIOS version, and who made your mobo.

saphalline:

Your kung fu is better than mine.

/bows humbly

Your kung fu is better than mine.
Hehe, no I just pay more attention to the little details. A few years ago, I spent large quantities of time surfing the net looking up PC hardware stuff. That was both an exciting and boring time for me. :p

Of course now I just can't stop! I know so much more about hardware than any network administrator wannabe should know! Oh well...

The motherboard has 3 identical RAM slots. One of them is filled with 64mb/PC100 Sdram stick. If I don't find PC100, I'll take my chances with 2 x 128mb PC133. And I'll make sure they work on 3.3V.

Thanks (to you both) for your help and the links.

We're gonna need more info about your system before we can answer your questions. Download either Balarc Advisor (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) or Aida32 (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html) and use them to find more info than you'll ever need about your system.


There's a substitute for Aida, called Everest :
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en&pageid=1
(it's still freeware)

I don't think I've ever heard of Everest. Thanks for the link, delete. I'll check it out.

Doh! I forgot about Everest. I just got that one recently and I really like it. Especially the memory bandwidth benchmark tests. They're rudimentary, nothing like you'd get from PC Mark, but definitely nice for a quick ballpark figure.