RAM Question -- David Maynard

[Patty]

I got the RAM sticks from pcwonderinc.com today. And.... SUCCESS! They
worked great! First I put just the new RAM in and booted it up, no
problems, restarted warm and cold a few times, no problems. Then I put the
old sticks in with them and I now have 80MB of RAM and the computer works
great. I think 98SE will do fine now. For $14 I'm tempted to buy a couple
more of those 32MB sticks.

One thing I noticed... appearance-wise they looked more like the old SIMMs
that I had. The module boards and chips were the same size and had the
same thickness.

Patty

 

[David Maynard]

I got the RAM sticks from pcwonderinc.com today. And.... SUCCESS! They
worked great! First I put just the new RAM in and booted it up, no
problems, restarted warm and cold a few times, no problems.

Super duper!

Then I put the
old sticks in with them and I now have 80MB of RAM and the computer works
great. I think 98SE will do fine now. For $14 I'm tempted to buy a couple
more of those 32MB sticks.

One thing I noticed... appearance-wise they looked more like the old SIMMs
that I had. The module boards and chips were the same size and had the
same thickness.

What's the question?

One would expect them to look similar. It's the insides of the chip that is
different (more memory cells).

 

[Patty]

What's the question?

One would expect them to look similar. It's the insides of the chip that is
different (more memory cells).

No, the RAM I returned looked different. Not quite the same board
thickness or size.

Patty

 

[David Maynard]

No, the RAM I returned looked different. Not quite the same board
thickness or size.

Patty

OK, well, it depends on how similar 'similar' is

When you said thickness I thought you meant the chips themselves.

The circuit board should be the same thickness, within tolerances, and I'm
surprised it's different enough to notice.

I suppose that could be the problem if the spring clips, because the board
is thinner, doesn't hold them tightly enough in the socket because it's a
press fit.

 

[Patty]

OK, well, it depends on how similar 'similar' is

When you said thickness I thought you meant the chips themselves.

The circuit board should be the same thickness, within tolerances, and I'm
surprised it's different enough to notice.

I suppose that could be the problem if the spring clips, because the board
is thinner, doesn't hold them tightly enough in the socket because it's a
press fit.

Maybe that's why the RAM I sent back wouldn't work on reboots. I don't know
how to explain it, but it definitely "felt" different from the RAM I sent
back.

Oh, the question... heh heh. I just used the same Subject Title from where
we had been discussing RAM before. I probably should have said, "No more
RAM Question" ;o)

Patty

 

[David Maynard]

Maybe that's why the RAM I sent back wouldn't work on reboots. I don't know
how to explain it, but it definitely "felt" different from the RAM I sent
back.

I don't have a solid explanation for how it could appear to work but cause
reboot to fail either.

Oh, the question... heh heh. I just used the same Subject Title from where
we had been discussing RAM before. I probably should have said, "No more
RAM Question" ;o)

Hehe. ok.

 

[Patty]

I don't have a solid explanation for how it could appear to work but cause
reboot to fail either.

You know... most of the time when it wouldn't reboot, it would boot again
after it was reseated. Perhaps the module board thickness had something to
do with it not consistently making the connection with the SIMM slots.
That's about the only thing I can figure.

Patty

 

[David Maynard]

You know... most of the time when it wouldn't reboot, it would boot again
after it was reseated. Perhaps the module board thickness had something to
do with it not consistently making the connection with the SIMM slots.
That's about the only thing I can figure.

Patty

Makes as much sense as anything else, and more than most