RAM incompatibility?

[josemavicente]

hi! is it advisable to always have the same brand of RAM? or it matters not? i heard that at times incompatible RAM brands cause errors with windows rundll.exe

is this true or just a myth? if its true, i should really tink about buying the same brand for all.... my system uses an assortment of RAM brands (SD), but what made me ask this question was that while installing windows on my cousin's brand new athlon xp, we kept on encountering errors towards the end of installation with rundll.exe. We tried everything -- even seeing if this would happen with windows 98/se/ME/2000 and still the same problem! We removed everything and found out after removing one RAM stick, it worked!

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[mjc]

With quality RAM it doesn't really matter, but once you start getting the generic or cheapest RAM available then errors start to crop up. Also RAM is very sensitive to ESD (electro-static discharge), and the newer, faster processors like the AthlonXP are more sensitive to RAM errors, so I think it was a combination of problems, not really different brands of RAM.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[josemavicente]

thanks mjc! that was very helpful advice.

does the same apply to DDR RAM? or ESD affects all kinds of RAM?

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[mjc]

All types...and possibly RDRAM is more sensitive (haven't seen anything conclusive on that, though).

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[josemavicente]

tnx for the info! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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