RAM Help ??

A

andy100

Hello,

I have an Athlon XP2200+ (1800MHz), running WinXP Professional. I am wanting
to upgrade the RAM in it. I did a test with CPU-Z and found that my
MotherBoard is a BN790E (is that Lex ?). It apparently has a 128 and a 512
chip already installed, making 620RAM total.

I would like to get it up to around the 800 - 1 Gig mark. I assumed that
there would be 4 slots to put the RAM chips into, so i took off the PC cover
before i bought any chips just to make sure. When i looked there were 2
black slots (occupied by PC133 Kingston 512MB in Slot 3, and PC133 "No
Brand" 128MB in Slot 4). The other 2 spare slots are PURPLE !! - i take it
that these are NOT the same PC133 slots and so therefore there is no point
in me buying 2 X 256 PC133 for them ??

Are the purple ones DDR ???? it has "2.5V" engraved on the purple plastic,
if that helps. If they are DDR then i assume i cannot use 2 x DDR chips in
the purple slots AND have the other 2 x PC133 left as they are, or can i ??

I thought you could not mix RAM in the way my PC is (512 in slot 3, and 128
in slot 4) !!.

What type of memory would i need to buy for the 2 purple slots which are
currently empty ??

Just for info, i'll try to give as much info as i can: (hope someone might
make sense of it all !!)
Name: AMD Athlon XP Processor
Code Name: Thoroughbred
Package: Socket A
Spec: AMD Athlon(tm) XP2200+
Family: 6
Model: 8
Steppin: 1
Ext. Family: 7
Ext. Model: 8
Revision: 80 (or B0 ?)
Core Speed: 1807.7MHz
L1 Data: 64 Kbytes
Multiplier: X 13.5
L1 Code: 64 Kbytes
FSB: 133.9MHz
Level 2: 256Kbytes
BusSpeed: 267.8MHz

Motherboard Model: VT8366-8233
Chipset: VIA KT266/333
Southbridge: VIA VT8233A
Sensor: Winbond W83697HF
BIOS: Award Software
Version: 6.00PG
Date: 11/22/2002

Graphic Interface Version: AGP Version 2.0
Transfer Rate: 4x
Max Supported 4x
Aperture Size: 64MB
Side band: Enabled

Memory Type: SDRAM
Size: 640MB
Bank Interleave: 4-Way
Frequency: 133.9MHz
FSB/DRAM: 1:1
CAS#Latency: 3.0 Clocks
 
A

Al Dykes

Hello,

I have an Athlon XP2200+ (1800MHz), running WinXP Professional. I am wanting
to upgrade the RAM in it. I did a test with CPU-Z and found that my
MotherBoard is a BN790E (is that Lex ?). It apparently has a 128 and a 512
chip already installed, making 620RAM total.



Go to www.crucial.com. It should help yoiu identify your mobo and tell
you what the rules are for adding memory. Crucial prices are
generally good, and the product is first rate. If you buy the chip
recommended by the web site it's a money back guarantee, I think.

You might also find the manual for your mobo on the manufacturer's
website and see what it says.

What software are you running than needs more than 640MB? There *is*
a point of diminishing returns and unless you are doing something that
needs it, more memory won't make your machine run any faster.
 
A

andy100

Video and music editing, it does run a little slow sometimes, so i was
hoping this might speed it up a little.

Cheers for the info
Andrew


 
A

andy100

Yeah, apparently it's a LEX mainboard (BN790E). The manual says the purple
ones are for "PC1600/PC2100 DDR DIMM". So, my question now is:

1) Can the purple ones be used IN CONJUNCTION WITH the white ones (PC133
DIMM) at the same time ?? Or is it one or the other ?
2) If i got memory for the purple DDR slots, is it just a simple matter of
putting the memory in then re-starting the PC and it will recognise it ?
i.e. no fiddling on with BIOS or settings (or software) ??
3) Are there any benefits of using the DDR slots against the PCI133 slots ?


Cheers
Andrew



andy100 said:
Video and music editing, it does run a little slow sometimes, so i was
hoping this might speed it up a little.

Cheers for the info
Andrew


Al Dykes said:
Go to www.crucial.com. It should help yoiu identify your mobo and tell
you what the rules are for adding memory. Crucial prices are
generally good, and the product is first rate. If you buy the chip
recommended by the web site it's a money back guarantee, I think.

You might also find the manual for your mobo on the manufacturer's
website and see what it says.

What software are you running than needs more than 640MB? There *is*
a point of diminishing returns and unless you are doing something that
needs it, more memory won't make your machine run any faster.
i
 
G

Guest

andy100 said:
Yeah, apparently it's a LEX mainboard (BN790E). The manual says the purple
ones are for "PC1600/PC2100 DDR DIMM". So, my question now is:
1) Can the purple ones be used IN CONJUNCTION WITH the white ones (PC133
DIMM) at the same time ?? Or is it one or the other ?
2) If i got memory for the purple DDR slots, is it just a simple matter of
putting the memory in then re-starting the PC and it will recognise it ?
i.e. no fiddling on with BIOS or settings (or software) ??
3) Are there any benefits of using the DDR slots against the PCI133 slots ?


1) All RAM should be able to be used in conjunction with each other.
2) Yes. If the RAM is incompatiable, the system will beep and will not boot.
3) I think so - I think DDR is faster.
 

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