HELP: Does my DDR Ram have ECC or not?

[quantass]

My system is: ECS K7S5A v1.0 Motherboard, 256 Megs DDR PC2100 Ram (Model: Micron 46V16M8-75A), AMD Athlon TBird 1GigHz. Currently dealers are selling 256 Megs DDR PC2100 Ram for $39 Canadian. However none of them are selling brand/models matching what the Motherboard recommends. This doesnt concern me as much as ECC issues.

According to "Sisoft Sandra 2002" my current 256 Megs DDR PC2100 Ram stick (Model: Micron 46V16M8-75A) is using ECC error checking. After calling around every dealer is selling non-ECC memory. Now Im a bit surprised that my current stick is an ECC module. The entire system was purchased 1.5years ago from the very same bargain basement dealers. Could Sisoft Sandra be reporting my memory stats incorrectly? How do i determine for sure if my current stick is ECC or not?

Is it possible to mix ECC and non-ECC DDR PC2100 memory on the same motherboard? Is there something to look out for in the AMIBios?

[Bovon]

I am not familiar with DDR RAM modules, but I would think the layout would be the same as DIMM modules. With DIMM RAM Modules, an unbuffered, non parity (and not registered) has 8 chips per side. ECC and Registered RAM have one more per side...e.g., 9 chips. It is kinda rare to find a normal home type mainboard that accepts ECC and/or Registered RAM.

No...ECC and unbuffered will not work in the same board at the same time..totally different timing and data handling.

You may be running unbuffered RAM, but have the ECC enabled in the bios....not sure about that...seems like I have read of that happening elsewhere.

[BipolarBill]

Those may be Micron chips on that RAM, but it's not Micron memory. Micron sells chips to many other assemblers.

Corsair made that RAM, it seems:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=914&page=3

"Memory: Corsair PC2400 DDR (CM64SD256-2400C2)

Corsair are known for their performance oriented memory, and the XP2000+ system uses two 256MB sticks of 300MHz CAS2 PC2400 DDR.

The Micron chips are model 46V16M8-75A and this should make for a very good memory subsystem even though the Asus A7V266-E is only 'officially' rated for PC2100.

CM64SD256-2400C2

300MHz
256MB Modules (x2)
32Mx64
184 DIMM
CAS 2.0
Unbuffered
16Mx8"

[quantass]

Ok Bovon i checked the # of microships per side and it is 8. Some other person confirmed that if one were to divide by 3 then this will prove if the unit is an ECC or not. It is a non-ECC. I'll chck my BIOS as you suggested.

Well if i do purchase more DDR ram are there any fears about it being buggy? Or is ram extremely reliable that there are no scam-artist manufacturers in the market.

[BipolarBill]

I wouldn't buy RAM privately. It's too cheap online to pass up.

[quantass]

Bipolarbill, can you recommend a good site for affordable PC2100 DDR Ram. Hopefully they're Canadian! :P If they can beat $36 Canadian for a 256 Meg DDR PC2100 Stick then I am there!! Though this local price is probably for some error prone module. I really dont know how trust worthy ram is out there at these local shops.

Can you recommend any reliable brand names?

[BipolarBill]

You're not going to find new memory at that price.

Keep in mind that 2nd-hand memory is rarely good memory. Why would they be selling it?

[gjimene2]

don't skimp out on the part for your own pc. No one ever should, it's like buying your g/f wax roses!

[rmanet]

Originally posted by gjimene2
don't skimp out on the part for your own pc. No one ever should, it's like buying your g/f wax roses!

or calling her another name when you're.......never mind......I'm outta here :t