RAM

[zamboe]

Doc,

What are the kinds of RAM chips. I was told that the RAM chips for PIV are different for the PIII.

[Nyarlathotep]

What type of RAm you want/need depends mostly of what kind of motherboard you have.

The different types op ram are SDRAM (PC133), DDR266, DDR333 (and soon DDR400). There are more types, but thsese are mostly used. There's also PC800 and PC1066. PC800 runs at FSB 400Mhz, while PC1066 runs at FSB 533Mhz. PC800 and PC1066 are P4 RAM mdules (RIMMS) only. They can't be used for PIII processors.

Not every memory module fits in any motherboard, or better said, not every motherboard supposrt all kinds of RAM. If you decide to buy new ram, you might want to check your motherboard manual to see what fits in.

If you need to know more, just let me know.

[zamboe]

I want to buy an Intel Pentium MB PIV 2 Ghz.However i need to know if i can use a RAM that was in a PIII (Asus).

[Nyarlathotep]

That depends on what type of RAM you have now.If it's SDRAM, you can't use it. If it's DDR266, you can use it. Better would be to go for DDR333, as it's fatser memory.If you go for a new motherboard, you might want to check out the latest Asus with the SiS648 chipset. It's currently the only one out there that offers AGP 8x. You maybe not use it right away, but you will in the near future :) It has lots of other features (like serial IDE interfaces, instead of paralell). This board also supports DDR400 memory (next to DDR333). It also has ATA 133 ability, unlike Intel chip based motherboards of Asus.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Hey Nyar.. i need some info......i have been in alot of forums.. and i only hear bad news about RDRAM....everyone keeps insisting that DDRAM is the way to go and it is faster etc, etc, etc, But I always thought RDRAM was the superior RAM....can u tell me what is going on?????

[Nyarlathotep]

RDRAM (RIMMS) are in several kinds of flavor.

PC800 (400Mhz): The first version of RIMMS and 16bit (at least, what most people know of). If anyone claims that DDR333 (and not DDR266) outperforms PC800, they are... right.

PC1066 (533Mhz): The second in line of RIMMS and 32bit (difference with 16 bit is the fact that you are able to use 1 RIMM, instead of 2 with 16bit). If anyone claims that DDR333 (and not DDR266) outperforms PC1066, they are... wrong. However, DDR400 comes real close, but isn't supported by that many motherboards currently (I believe only motherboards with the new SiS648 chipset). This memory is the first RIMM in the line that is capable of running at FSB 533Mhz.

What you need to remember though, is that RIMMS are more expensive then DDR RAM.

For the DDR lovers:

DDR266 (PC2100): Memory that runs at 133Mhz

DDR333 (PC2700): Runs at 166Mhz

DDR400 (PC3200): Runs at 200Mhz