RAM! I'm SO confused...Help?!?

[SouthFla]

OK, can someone help me with RAM info?? I'm wanting to upgrade my 128 meg PC100 SDRAM stick to PC133 (for overclocking purposes, of course!) My mb is AOpen AX6BCPro. But I'm very confused about what kind, what specs., etc. when looking through the various on-line stores...So if anyone can shed some light on my consfused cranium, please do so...

1) Do I want RAM with "ECC", and why/why not???
2) What's diff between "72" pin/"168" pin?
3) The "ns" numbers (ie 6.5, 8) mean what, and what do I want?
4) What does "EDO" and "unbuffered" mean, and why do they specify "3.3 V" ??
5) Does it matter what BRAND of RAM I buy, i.e. does it have to be specifically manufctrd. for my motherboard??
6) Any suggestion on reputable on-line sellers of RAM?

THANKS once again for any and all help!!!

[bobcat]

1. ECC - Error Correction Code - It is used to make sure that there is no data loss. This can happen if you have alot of RAM. I have 256M w ECC. It COSTS MORE. Not sure if I needed it for 256, but felt that if I ever upgraded beyond that, I didn't want to have to buy all new RAM.

2. 72 pin = SIMM which you will find in your Pentium MB.
168 pin = DIMM which you will find in some Pentium MB. Definitly in all PII/PIII/Celeron MB.

3. This is the speed of the RAM in nanoseconds. The smaller the number the better.

4. Cant remeber what EDO is. You need to check your MB manual to find the voltage that it expects from the RAM.

5. PNV is a brand name - have 32Meg...works fine.
No name RAM - have 800+Meg no problems.

[Ygor]

Hiya South!
1. ECC is mainly used in high end servers, not worth the extra cost to most for personal use.
2. 72 pin is for simms, 168 is for current dimm, sdrams, like your board.
3. The ns numbers are supposed to represent nanoseconds timing, but may just be a marketing ploy. (There was an article on this but I've lost the link. Ars Technica?)
4. EDO stands for Extended Data Out, and is a type of ram. There is/was also fpm, for fast page mode. 3.3 volts is the standard for current sdram. Older 72 pin ram was 5 volts. On some boards you may use both, but only at 5 volts or 3 volts. You want 3.3 volts for your board. Not sure about buffered & non buffered, but I do recall seeing something about buffering not being necessary in most cases. Someone else may have more on this.
5. You may use generic ram on your board. Generally speaking, the brand does not matter unless you want to get into CAS2 which is a faster and better grade of ram that some prefer. May be helpful in overclocking or high-end use.
6. Check Reseller Ratings here at SysOpt! I use PriceWatch (www.pricewatch.com) and then check Reseller Ratings here. You'll find there is often a reason for the low prices on the first page of each category in pricewatch. Also if buying online, check shipping costs before making your final decision.

[welsh wizard]

Hi South
well you asked for yourAX6BC Pro boards ram,
Here goes,
it run SD Ram or Registered SD Ram ( Registered SD Ram recomended if you want to go to 768mb)
Non Buffered Ram 4 clocks SD RAM ( if your sticks have a trace to pins 79 and 163 it's probably 4 clock)
board supports standard 64 bit without parity and 72 bit wide with parity
SPD also supported and recommended.
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IS NOT RECOMMENDED BY AOpen
4m x 4 datachip 4m x 64 B.S.P.S. x1 sided chip count 16 32MB stick
4m x 4 datachip 4m x 64 B.S.P.S. x2 sided chip count 32 64MB stick
16m x4 datachip 16 x64 B.S.P.S. x1 sided chip count 16 128MB stick

your board auto detect parity inthe BIOS and is recommended

Check these specs in your manual pages 2/17 and 2/18 or go to http://www.aopen.com.tw/ and follow download link till you get to mother boards or http://www.aopenusa.com/index5.htm and you can download your manual there.

hgope this helps
WW


[This message has been edited by welsh wizard (edited 11-08-1999).]

[Underclocked]

http://www.mushkin.com/cgi-bin/Mushkin.filereader?1913754276+EN/products/990435 and they are as good as it gets for service/warranty/packaging.