high density ram in old computer ok?

[k wright]

I've got a Shuttle HOT-631 PII which needs more memory. I've tried two
256 meg sticks in it. One sdram dimm had 16 chips and only 128 meg was
recognized as I expected. The other dimm had 8 chips and only 64 meg was
recognized on it.

I ram memtest on the first stick and no errors were seen in the first 4
tests of the first pass so it appeared to be ok.

I googled and found one post where a person claimed it would appear to be
alright until the system actually used the memory.

So is it ok to use a dimm even if the full memory is not recognized?


thanks,
kw

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I've got a Shuttle HOT-631 PII which needs more memory. I've tried two
256 meg sticks in it. One sdram dimm had 16 chips and only 128 meg was
recognized as I expected. The other dimm had 8 chips and only 64 meg was
recognized on it.

So is it ok to use a dimm even if the full memory is not recognized?

I'm no expert, but everything I've read and my own experience say it's
OK.

I had the same problem when I received a PC133 module containing
sixteen 32Mx4 chips. Apparently, older mobo chipsets can't fully
address chips this "wide" (that's not the right term, but I don't know
what is) and need chips no "wider" than 16Mx, i.e., 16Mx8. The only
way to confirm the chip information is by Googling the part numbers
printed on them, but not all chips have genuine factory (chip factory,
not module factory) markings on them.

I think that all 256MB PC66 and PC100 modules have 16Mx8 chips, but
most PC133-only modules do not.

I'm pretty sure that your HOT-631 mobo with Intel 440LX chipset can
fully address 256MB modules because I found that mobos older than yours
and equipped with the Intel 430TX and VIA VP2 chipsets could.

 

[Graham]

I've got a Shuttle HOT-631 PII which needs more memory. I've tried two
256 meg sticks in it. One sdram dimm had 16 chips and only 128 meg was
recognized as I expected. The other dimm had 8 chips and only 64 meg was
recognized on it.

I ram memtest on the first stick and no errors were seen in the first 4
tests of the first pass so it appeared to be ok.

I googled and found one post where a person claimed it would appear to be
alright until the system actually used the memory.

So is it ok to use a dimm even if the full memory is not recognized?

It probably won't do any harm as such, but you may find the machine to be
unstable with certain applications. (Thats what I found on a similar age
motherboard)

You would be much better off using the correct RAM for the machine.
Use the Crucial memory finder, the prices aren't bad either.
www.crucial.com
or
www.crucial.com/uk for England

Cheers!

 

[k wright]

It probably won't do any harm as such, but you may find the machine to be
unstable with certain applications. (Thats what I found on a similar age
motherboard)

You would be much better off using the correct RAM for the machine. Use
the Crucial memory finder, the prices aren't bad either. www.crucial.com
or
www.crucial.com/uk for England

Cheers!

I looked at Crucial's site before I made the post and did not find the
Hot-631 listed. I think it might be cheaper to buy the 'wrong' memory
and use just half of it than to get the 'correct' dimm.

kw

 

[Guest]

I looked at Crucial's site before I made the post and did not find the
Hot-631 listed.

Click on the "Scan My System" button on the right of the screen to make
Crucial look up suitable memory automatically.