WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE??? (RAM) [Archive]

Fingers

05-19-2001, 02:57 PM

I'll give it a shot. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

Regular SDRAM is what almost everyone uses these days. "PC100" and "PC133" are standards that define the requirements of the memory modules that are used on 100 and 133MHz FSB motherboards. (PC133 memory is backward compatible with 66 and 100MHz FSB systems) Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) is measured in MHz (66/100/133 etc.) as compared to older Fast Page and EDO memory that was classified by its speed in nanoseconds.

Memory marketed as "PC100" & "PC133" is most likely "unbuffered" and "non-parity" unless otherwise noted. This is the type of memory that almost all systems that use SDRAM are designed for.

Memory labeled as "ECC" has built in Error Checking and Correcting, but this also slows down the memory. Except on servers and machines that handle extremely important data, ECC is unnecessary (and usually undesirable). SDRAM that is non-ECC is also known as "non-parity".

Memory labeled as "registered" contains a "register" that delays the data one clock cycle to ensure the integrity of the data. "Buffered" memory does basically the same thing, but in a different way. Again, "buffered" and "registered" memory are not for the average system, infact most motherboards don't support them. SDRAM that is not marketed as either "registered" or "buffered" is "unbuffered" and is what almost all motherboards use.

Crucial.com (http://www.crucial.com/) has a Memory Selector that will insure that you know what type of memory your PC is compatible with.

All the information above can be found in either their FAQ (http://support.crucial.com/scripts/crucial.exe/faq) , Library (http://www.crucial.com/library/) , or their Glossary of Memory Terms (http://www.crucial.com/library/glossary.asp)

If you've still got questions, feel free to ask again about anything that you're unsure about. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif