DRAM upgrade

[cantoo]

I have a motherboard from elitegroup, the P4ITA2 and have 2x 64mb of ram by samsung and want to add up to 256mb of ram. First off, whats the difference between ECC and NON-ECC and a 288m bit vs. a 144m bit vs. a 128m bit? Could someone let me know and give me some links to order them online or buy them. Thanks in advance.

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"roll with the punches, tomorrows a new day!"

[Sylvor]

Ok, this post will sound weird, but bear with me...

In MY experiance, ECC (error checking) is NOT worth the price if you live at sea level or below!

Reasons:
1) ECC ram writes extra bits to every data stream for error checking, the redundant bits (when no error occurs) are written back into memory, this represents a small performance REDUCTION. (some people are under the impression that if you pay more, it's faster... WRONG)

2) Most memory erros occur due to radiation (Cosmic rays or some sort of interferance from the mainboard, the solder might do it I guess) - it is a fact that radiation levels are higher above sea level and you get something like 10x the amount of errors at 1 mile above sea level.

I know this because my friends laptop used to fail ALL the time (he flew everywhere with the thing!) - it took me months to work out what the problem was - god bless the internet.

3) Non all motherboards support ECC ram, so you should check that for sure.

So, if you live above sea level or next to a nuclear plant, get ECC, if not, don't bother! heh

I'm not sure about the 128, 144, 288 question though, the only 144 I know of is the amount of pins that laptop so-dimms have, I imagine you'd be after 168 PIN though.

"Ramtastic"

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Sly :)

Helping everyday people with everyday problems, everyday!

[saphalline]

The only thing I know of that uses the numbers 144 & 288 is a floppy drive. They used to come in all shapes and sizes, from the original 128KB version (back when they really were floppy) to the commonly used 1.44MB versions today. The Japanese also use a proprietary 2.88MB version, but it never caught on in Europe and the States.

Definitely agree with Sylvor on not getting ECC, it's generally not worth it. As for buying more RAM, here's a link to an online vendor I use quite often:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=17&manufactory=1077&DEPA=1

That's the link to the Samsung RDRAM they sell. You should always stick to the same RAM manufacturer when you can. They have 128MB modules for $51 including shipping. So two of those (for another 256MB) would cost you $102. Of course, if you buy two 256MB modules (for another 512MB of RAM) it will only cost you $182 with shipping. Depends on how much you have to spend, but with your current 128MB + another 512MB, you'd be sittin' pretty at 640MB of RAM!

Ah well, I'll quit preachin' the power user's config...

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"No, we do not gnaw on our kitty." - Dr. Evil

[rond36]

Your motherboard doesn't support ECC only standard un-buffered and registered 184 pin PC600 or 800 Rambus RIMMs. To add 256MB you need to buy two 128MB 184 pin RIMMs because they have to be installed in pairs. Do you have your motherboard manual if not you can download it here. (http://www.ecs.com.tw/support/support.htm)
For more info on ECC read this (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/ram/err.htm).

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How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard Disk (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q255867)
How to multi-boot Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/multiboot.asp)
Microsoft Expert Zone Multi-booting made easy (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/russel/september10.asp)
MSKB How to multi-boot Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q306559)

[This message has been edited by rond36 (edited 05-17-2002).]

[This message has been edited by rond36 (edited 05-17-2002).]