On Thursday 31 May 2001 06:54 pm, Benjamin Sher wrote:
> Dear friends:
> Using AMD K6-2 400 CPU, using Soyo SY-5EMA+ Super 7 Mainboard v. 2
> Are the following memory modules compatible, please? TigerDirect
> assured me that they were when I bought them. But are they?
Ben, any ol' junk 8ns-CL3 'pc100' ram should be 'compatible' with your
cpu/motherboard. sdram is often under rated. I've used ancient 66mhz
ram at 112mhz reliably. MOF, it's still going at 112, several years
now. The system I'm typin on has one old stick of 8ns-CL2 runnin along
with a stick of 7ns-CL2 at 133mhz CL2-3-3, several years.
Brand name, model numbers, and PCxxx 'labels' are the least
important aspect of sdram sticks. The ns, and cas ratings have more
important meaning, but the bottom line is _ram is what it'll do with
-0- errors_. Just as, if not more important, as the quality and rating
of the ram is the quality, stability, and configuration of the
motherboard it's run on. A stick of no-name ram labeled pc100 might
run flawlessly at 155+ mhz on one motherboard, but error out on a
lesser motherboard at 100mhz. Most of the better boards offer the
ability to overvolt the ram, the best ones do this by default. My Soyo
6ba+III sends 3.55v to the ram by default (3.3v is spec). Use
lm_sensors, or a Windoze monitoring app to see what your 5ema is
supplying.
Sometimes there's quirks with multiple sticks on even the best
motherboards. Check that your ram timings in bios are proper (safest
is 3-3-3, precharge on, ECC off), and then try putting the sticks in
different slots, ie, swap 'em around. Try 2 out'a 3 sticks running.
Don't be afraid to leave slot1 empty. Try all possible combinations,
lot'sa trial'n error. It could be you've got one stick that just
doesn't want to work with the others, or with that motherboard.
--
Tom Brinkman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Galveston Bay
