Ram Ijncompatibility?

robertthebard · 06-08-2006, 12:10 PM

Ok, the ram chip is 128x4 chips, as opposed to 64x8. What exactly does that mean? It has 1GB DIMM's, with CAS Latency of 3. I'm not sure if this is good or bad? Is my new chip beyond my currently "dated" hardware, not sure what the MB is, but it's a stock Dell unit, about 2 years old.

Albromor · 06-08-2006, 12:33 PM

Are you having issues? If not, then you are fine. My new system has 4 sticks of 512 RAM (2 gig total) and they are 128x4 chips.

A CAS latency of 3 comes in many standard builds. Now if you were into overclocking you would want a CAS Latency of 2 to 2.5.

This is a little old, i.e. Pentium 3 reference, but it should help you:

In the real world, unless your system is up on the cutting edge of technology and you're pushing performance to the limit as do some over-clockers, or gamers, it may have some relevance. On the other hand, in everyday systems the relevance is nominal at best. CAS3 means that at 100 Mhz., the amount of time required for the first memory access in a burst is increased by 10 nanoseconds or less. Divide this figure by 4 to average the increased time across four bursts, and you have an improvement of less than 2.5 nanoseconds over CAS2. We need to underscore the term relevance as it pertains to CAS Latency and changing memory modules on the average system. If you had a Pentium III 600 to 866MHz. computer, as an example, and you used this for surfing the Internet, using Microsoft Office or Corel Office, Adobe products etc., and changed your memory modules from those having CAS3 to CAS2 latencies, you wouldn't be able to notice any difference. But again, if you are pushing your system to the limits, this could become critical.

[ 06-08-2006, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Albromor ]

robertthebard · 06-08-2006, 12:58 PM

When the 1GB chip is installed, it's only reading 256MB of the chip. I had it in with my 512 chip, and I only had 768MB ram, which is what I had with the 512/256 set, and when I had the 1GB chip alone, my system only read 256MB...Confusion reigns...

Albromor · 06-08-2006, 03:52 PM

Do you know what RAM your motherboard can utilize? There are those instances when a new RAM stick is actually bad. Do you know how to do a MemTest86+ to test your RAM?

robertthebard · 06-08-2006, 04:37 PM

No, but I'll google it, and find out...

robertthebard · 06-08-2006, 06:50 PM

Ran a test, and after an hour and a half, I'd already had 105 count chans bad? Failing addy was 0000c69dffc. It only read the ram at 256 mb, on a 1GB chip. Bad: dfffdfdf; Good: dfdfdfdf; Err bits 00200000. Now, I have no idea what that all means, but since I was having no problems with memory before the chip, would it be safe to assume that the chip is bad?

Albromor · 06-08-2006, 10:10 PM

From what you are saying I would say, yes, you have a bad stick of memory.

robertthebard · 06-09-2006, 04:28 AM

It goes back in the mail today. Thanks for the assist.

06-08-2006, 12:10 PM	#1
robertthebard Xanathar Thieves Guild Join Date: March 17, 2001 Location: Wichita, KS USA Age: 62 Posts: 4,537	Ok, the ram chip is 128x4 chips, as opposed to 64x8. What exactly does that mean? It has 1GB DIMM's, with CAS Latency of 3. I'm not sure if this is good or bad? Is my new chip beyond my currently "dated" hardware, not sure what the MB is, but it's a stock Dell unit, about 2 years old. __________________ To those we have lost; May your spirits fly free. Interesting read, one of my blogs.

06-08-2006, 12:58 PM	#3
robertthebard Xanathar Thieves Guild Join Date: March 17, 2001 Location: Wichita, KS USA Age: 62 Posts: 4,537	When the 1GB chip is installed, it's only reading 256MB of the chip. I had it in with my 512 chip, and I only had 768MB ram, which is what I had with the 512/256 set, and when I had the 1GB chip alone, my system only read 256MB...Confusion reigns... __________________ To those we have lost; May your spirits fly free. Interesting read, one of my blogs.

06-08-2006, 04:37 PM	#5
robertthebard Xanathar Thieves Guild Join Date: March 17, 2001 Location: Wichita, KS USA Age: 62 Posts: 4,537	No, but I'll google it, and find out... __________________ To those we have lost; May your spirits fly free. Interesting read, one of my blogs.

06-08-2006, 06:50 PM	#6
robertthebard Xanathar Thieves Guild Join Date: March 17, 2001 Location: Wichita, KS USA Age: 62 Posts: 4,537	Ran a test, and after an hour and a half, I'd already had 105 count chans bad? Failing addy was 0000c69dffc. It only read the ram at 256 mb, on a 1GB chip. Bad: dfffdfdf; Good: dfdfdfdf; Err bits 00200000. Now, I have no idea what that all means, but since I was having no problems with memory before the chip, would it be safe to assume that the chip is bad? __________________ To those we have lost; May your spirits fly free. Interesting read, one of my blogs.

06-09-2006, 04:28 AM	#8
robertthebard Xanathar Thieves Guild Join Date: March 17, 2001 Location: Wichita, KS USA Age: 62 Posts: 4,537	It goes back in the mail today. Thanks for the assist. __________________ To those we have lost; May your spirits fly free. Interesting read, one of my blogs.

06-08-2006, 12:33 PM	#2
Albromor Mephistopheles Join Date: June 13, 2001 Location: Northfield, NJ USA Posts: 1,417	Are you having issues? If not, then you are fine. My new system has 4 sticks of 512 RAM (2 gig total) and they are 128x4 chips. A CAS latency of 3 comes in many standard builds. Now if you were into overclocking you would want a CAS Latency of 2 to 2.5. This is a little old, i.e. Pentium 3 reference, but it should help you: In the real world, unless your system is up on the cutting edge of technology and you're pushing performance to the limit as do some over-clockers, or gamers, it may have some relevance. On the other hand, in everyday systems the relevance is nominal at best. CAS3 means that at 100 Mhz., the amount of time required for the first memory access in a burst is increased by 10 nanoseconds or less. Divide this figure by 4 to average the increased time across four bursts, and you have an improvement of less than 2.5 nanoseconds over CAS2. We need to underscore the term relevance as it pertains to CAS Latency and changing memory modules on the average system. If you had a Pentium III 600 to 866MHz. computer, as an example, and you used this for surfing the Internet, using Microsoft Office or Corel Office, Adobe products etc., and changed your memory modules from those having CAS3 to CAS2 latencies, you wouldn't be able to notice any difference. But again, if you are pushing your system to the limits, this could become critical. [ 06-08-2006, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Albromor ]

06-08-2006, 03:52 PM	#4
Albromor Mephistopheles Join Date: June 13, 2001 Location: Northfield, NJ USA Posts: 1,417	Do you know what RAM your motherboard can utilize? There are those instances when a new RAM stick is actually bad. Do you know how to do a MemTest86+ to test your RAM?

06-08-2006, 10:10 PM	#7
Albromor Mephistopheles Join Date: June 13, 2001 Location: Northfield, NJ USA Posts: 1,417	From what you are saying I would say, yes, you have a bad stick of memory.

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