A question about RAM - Page 2

andrewas · 01-07-2003, 03:16 PM

Right, the spec sheet for your computer is here:

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/supportinfo...esario7900.pdf

I hate compaq. No other company produces hardware thats as tricky to work with.

Anyway your machines chart says it can take 64, 128 or 384 Mb DIMMS at 100Mhz. Has anyone here ever heard of a 384Mb DIMM? Thought not. It should be safe to put the PC133 512Mb DIMM in , if the machine wont support that much it will use it as a 256Mb DIMM, which is still a substantial improvement on what you have now.

Dont touch any DDR or Rambus Memory, because this machine wont take it. The other thing to note is that if you have more than 512Mb RAM then windows 98 becomes (even more) hideously inefficient, and you really need to switch to XP to take advantage of that much RAM.

The Hunter of Jahanna · 01-07-2003, 03:35 PM

Quote:

machine refused to boot with the new ram till I flashed the BIOS.

You flashed the what?!?!? Your a dirty, pervy monkey Mr.Rokken

Rokenn · 01-07-2003, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Hunter of Jahanna:

quote:
machine refused to boot with the new ram till I flashed the BIOS.

You flashed the what?!?!? Your a dirty, pervy monkey Mr.Rokken [/QUOTE]HEY! I did it in the privacy of my own home [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

[ 01-07-2003, 03:53 PM: Message edited by: Rokenn ]

Vaskez · 01-07-2003, 04:06 PM

Andrewas is right. Unless you have Windows 2000 or XP there ain't much point in having more than 256MB of RAM. Also before andrewas posted I was gonna say that it's unlikely that your mobo would take DDR RAM. In case you are wondering, DDR is Double Data Rate and thus is accessed twice as fast as SDRAM (I think it's Double compared to SDRAM) that's why it's so much more expensive. Unless you are doing some serious video editing or running 2 million applications at once, it's better to go for the faster as opposed to the more RAM, but you don't really have a choice. ALso check that your system will actually run PC133 and does not require PC100 as MY 2 year-old system failed to boot when I bought PC133 RAM. THEN I looked at the manual and it told me that I need PC100 so I went and exchanged it

Teach me to read the manual

Anyway, windows 2000 runs my 640MB RAM nicely. The PC came with 128MB then I added 2 256MB DIMMs. So that answers your other question: make sure you do not have to throw away your old mem module, that'd be pointless.

andrewas · 01-07-2003, 04:33 PM

In My experience, any machine that runs Pc-100 will run PC-133 as well, since the specification for PC-133 says it should run as low as PC-66. If its defective you may have problems.

With compaq theres another problem - Compaq *love* to make you buy there own parts. I have maxtor harddrives with compaq stickers on them - just because compaq want to sell the drive at 250% the normal price.

In this case, this page:

http://www.orderingmemory.com/compaq...sario&x=15&y=9

Tells you what chips you need. Looking through the specs, I dont think this thing will run a 512Mb DIMM, although it should accept a 512 as a 256 so its not a total loss. It also lists a PC-133 DIMM in its recommendations, so go for it.

homer · 01-08-2003, 01:11 AM

I appreciate all of the advice. [img]graemlins/hippysmile.gif[/img]

01-07-2003, 03:16 PM	#11
andrewas Harper Join Date: October 2, 2001 Location: Aberdeen, Scotland Age: 42 Posts: 4,774	Right, the spec sheet for your computer is here: ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/supportinfo...esario7900.pdf I hate compaq. No other company produces hardware thats as tricky to work with. Anyway your machines chart says it can take 64, 128 or 384 Mb DIMMS at 100Mhz. Has anyone here ever heard of a 384Mb DIMM? Thought not. It should be safe to put the PC133 512Mb DIMM in , if the machine wont support that much it will use it as a 256Mb DIMM, which is still a substantial improvement on what you have now. Dont touch any DDR or Rambus Memory, because this machine wont take it. The other thing to note is that if you have more than 512Mb RAM then windows 98 becomes (even more) hideously inefficient, and you really need to switch to XP to take advantage of that much RAM. __________________ [img]\"http://www.sighost.us/members/Zvijer/andrewas.gif\" alt=\" - \" />

01-07-2003, 04:06 PM	#14
Vaskez Takhisis Follower Join Date: April 30, 2001 Location: szép Magyarország (well not right now) Posts: 5,089	Andrewas is right. Unless you have Windows 2000 or XP there ain't much point in having more than 256MB of RAM. Also before andrewas posted I was gonna say that it's unlikely that your mobo would take DDR RAM. In case you are wondering, DDR is Double Data Rate and thus is accessed twice as fast as SDRAM (I think it's Double compared to SDRAM) that's why it's so much more expensive. Unless you are doing some serious video editing or running 2 million applications at once, it's better to go for the faster as opposed to the more RAM, but you don't really have a choice. ALso check that your system will actually run PC133 and does not require PC100 as MY 2 year-old system failed to boot when I bought PC133 RAM. THEN I looked at the manual and it told me that I need PC100 so I went and exchanged it Teach me to read the manual Anyway, windows 2000 runs my 640MB RAM nicely. The PC came with 128MB then I added 2 256MB DIMMs. So that answers your other question: make sure you do not have to throw away your old mem module, that'd be pointless. __________________ Too set in his ways to ever relate If he could set that aside, there'd be heaven to pay But weathered and aged, time swept him to grave Love conquers all? Damn, I'd say that area's gray

01-07-2003, 04:33 PM	#15
andrewas Harper Join Date: October 2, 2001 Location: Aberdeen, Scotland Age: 42 Posts: 4,774	In My experience, any machine that runs Pc-100 will run PC-133 as well, since the specification for PC-133 says it should run as low as PC-66. If its defective you may have problems. With compaq theres another problem - Compaq love to make you buy there own parts. I have maxtor harddrives with compaq stickers on them - just because compaq want to sell the drive at 250% the normal price. In this case, this page: http://www.orderingmemory.com/compaq...sario&x=15&y=9 Tells you what chips you need. Looking through the specs, I dont think this thing will run a 512Mb DIMM, although it should accept a 512 as a 256 so its not a total loss. It also lists a PC-133 DIMM in its recommendations, so go for it. __________________ [img]\"http://www.sighost.us/members/Zvijer/andrewas.gif\" alt=\" - \" />

01-08-2003, 01:11 AM	#16
homer Manshoon Join Date: November 11, 2001 Location: couch Age: 52 Posts: 180	I appreciate all of the advice. [img]graemlins/hippysmile.gif[/img] __________________ You tried and you failed; the lesson is, never try. - Homer

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Another Video Card Question becomes Antivirus Question!!!	Bahamut	General Conversation Archives (11/2000 - 01/2005)	19	12-27-2003 11:40 PM
One BIZZZARE question and one normal everyday question	Sythe	Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal	3	09-10-2002 02:44 AM
Early ch6 question - poss spoiler info in question...	Fljotsdale	Baldurs Gate II Archives	5	03-18-2001 12:33 AM
Dragon spire crystal question + question about Giant killing for the warriorguild	Malakez	Wizards & Warriors Forum	4	02-20-2001 03:52 PM
spell lvl question, buying spells question, and role ascension question	Paupa	Wizards & Warriors Forum	1	12-31-2000 04:59 PM

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)