133 or 100 SDRAM into a BX board?

[J1NG]

Hi people,

I got a BX board with three RAM slots empty. And 133 RAM seems to be cheaper at the moment than the 100 RAM. Can I buy the 133 and plug it in the BX board with no problems? Or must I use the 100 SDRAM only?

Thanks
J1NG

[Liquid Snake]

It can take 133 or 100. Just don't run PC100 at 133 unless it's really good RAM. It's OK to run PC133 at 100.

[Greebe]

LS is correct.

What MB is it that you have?

[J1NG]

OK, I can buy the 133 SDRAM then.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-6BA. Baby AT form factor. Currently got a PIII 400 in with a 128MB DIMM in. Any know if it can take unbuffered/ registered ECC RAM in? And what's the difference between the two anyway?

Thanks
J1NG

[This message has been edited by J1NG (edited 02 February 2001).]

[paulcs]

I yanked this off Crucial's site. I think it's a good explanation of ECC vs. non-parity:

If you are building a PC and deciding which type to use, the following guidelines should help. If you plan to use your system as a server or a similar mission critical type machine, it is to your advantage to use ECC. If you plan to use your PC for regular home, office, or gaming applications, you are better off with non-parity.

ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) performs "double bit detection and single bit correction." This means that if you have a single bit memory error, the chipset and memory will find and repair the error on the fly without you knowing that it happened. If you have a double bit memory error, it will detect and report it. Using ECC decreases your PC's performance by about 2%. Current technology DRAM is very stable and memory errors are rare, so unless you have a need for ECC, you are better served with non-parity SDRAM.

As for unbuffered vs. registered:

DDR and SDRAM can be unbuffered or registered. EDO and FPM can be buffered or unbuffered. Buffered modules contain a buffer to help the chipset cope with the large electrical load required when the system has a lot of memory. Registered modules are unbuffered modules that contain a register that delays all information transferred to the module by one clock cycle. Buffered and registered modules are typically used only in servers and other mission-critical systems where it is extremely important that the data is properly handled.

Unless you're building a server, and that doesn't look like what you're doing, you probably don't need ECC or registered RAM. Also, mixing and matching is a bad idea.

Crucial's FAQ is a good source for answers to many RAM questions. Here's a link:

http://support.crucial.com/scripts/crucial.exe/faq

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 02 February 2001).]