RAM Voltage

[Twayne]

Hi,

Here's a simple one, I think, for anyone with memory experience.

Current RAM is read by SIW as SSTL 2.5V. All RAM I can find at places
like Crucial, etc. are labelled as 2.6V.

Does the 2.5 vs 2.6 V matter?

What might the SSTL stand for?

I have a 256 Meg Walmart machine apparently made by Balance Digital
Technology, who no longer makes desktop but does appear to make laptops,
but they are a manufacturer & won't talk to anyone. Walmart of course
just says "HUH?"
All I want to do is take it from 256 to 512 or a Gig depending on
whether i can work out the voltage question. Machine called 3 GHz but
actually has a 2.4 GHz Celeron in it.

Specs from SIW:
Device Locator Slot 2

Capacity 256 MBytes

Memory Type SDRAM DDR-400

RAM Speed PC3200 (200 MHz)

Data Width 64 bits

Voltage SSTL 2.5V *<==========*

Error Correction None

Refresh Reduced (.5x)...7.8 µs

EPP SPD Support No

Cpu Socket Socket 478

Max CPU Speed 3066 MHz (but running in 2.4 GHz machine).

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on the voltage issue. Or
anything else for that matter.



Twayne

 

[JS]

What might the SSTL stand for?:
http://www.interfacebus.com/SSTL_Logic_Interface.html

Will the replacement 2.6V memory work, most likely it will but I would give
Crucial a call and even if they can't answer your SSTL voltage question,
find out about their return/warranty policy.

JS

 

[Paul]

Hi,

Here's a simple one, I think, for anyone with memory experience.

Current RAM is read by SIW as SSTL 2.5V. All RAM I can find at places
like Crucial, etc. are labelled as 2.6V.

Does the 2.5 vs 2.6 V matter?

What might the SSTL stand for?

I have a 256 Meg Walmart machine apparently made by Balance Digital
Technology, who no longer makes desktop but does appear to make laptops,
but they are a manufacturer & won't talk to anyone. Walmart of course
just says "HUH?"
All I want to do is take it from 256 to 512 or a Gig depending on
whether i can work out the voltage question. Machine called 3 GHz but
actually has a 2.4 GHz Celeron in it.

Specs from SIW:
Device Locator Slot 2

Capacity 256 MBytes

Memory Type SDRAM DDR-400

RAM Speed PC3200 (200 MHz)

Data Width 64 bits

Voltage SSTL 2.5V *<==========*

Error Correction None

Refresh Reduced (.5x)...7.8 µs

EPP SPD Support No

Cpu Socket Socket 478

Max CPU Speed 3066 MHz (but running in 2.4 GHz machine).

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on the voltage issue. Or
anything else for that matter.

Twayne

JEDEC sets standards for memory. Each generation of memory
used a different voltage, and as the geometry got smaller,
the voltage needed dropped. SDRAM = 3.3V, DDR = 2.5V,
DDR2 = 1.8V, DDR3 = 1.5V, and so on.

When the JEDEC committee worked on DDR, originally DDR went
to DDR333 or PC2700. Up to that point, the agreement on
operating voltage was 2.5V. At some point, it appeared that
DDR400 operation was possible, and so a proposal was put
forward to codify it into the standard. In order to pass a
vote, all the people voting would have to be satisfied that
it would work. I expect some manufacturers were concerned about
yields at the DDR400 speed, so they asked to have the voltage
spec changed to 2.6V just for DDR400. That was a strategy to
help some of the companies making DDR333, who figured they
wouldn't be able to make very much DDR400, if the voltage
stayed at 2.5V. (In retrospect, those companies probably
feel pretty silly right now.)

For the most part, you can ignore this. If the computer
has provisions to run at DDR400, chances are the voltage
has been adjusted according to the whims of the motherboard
designer. If the computer only ever ran at DDR333, then it
could operate at 2.5V. And some DDR400 RAM, running at the
slower DDR333, might indeed be happy at 2.5V. (Speed and
voltage go hand in hand, and if a memory runs slower, it
needs less voltage to do that error free.)

I've run into very few postings, where this 0.1V difference
was actually important. There was a Tyan board that had
a problem because of this, but I really wouldn't expect
it to make any difference in the vast majority of cases.
If there was a significant problem, the newsgroups would
be flooded with complaints about prebuilt computers
blue screening after a memory upgrade. And that does
not seem to be the case.

Go to the Crucial site, and use their system scanner, to
identify how many slots your system has. If you want
further feedback, please post a link to the web page that
Crucial offers for your computer. (The motherboard is
likely made by some company other than "Balance Digital
Technology". There are some big motherboard companies that
produce boards for OEM purposes, like ECS or PCChips.
And even if the chipset used on the board is known, or
is stated by the scanner, you can make some guesses as
to what will work.)

One final warning, because you might run off and buy the
first memory you find - avoid 1GB DDR from Ebay. Some
of the advertisements, list "restricted" chipsets that
will work with their memory product. What you want, when
buying a memory, is memory that works with *any* chipset.
Buying a memory for $20 less, because it doesn't work
in all situations, is poor economy. I bought 2x1GB DDR for
$70 recently (after one of my 512MB sticks died), so you
shouldn't have to spend a lot for a 1GB DDR upgrade,
using branded and good working memory.

Paul

 

[Dragomir Kollaric]

Hi,

Here's a simple one, I think, for anyone with memory experience.

Current RAM is read by SIW as SSTL 2.5V. All RAM I can find at places
like Crucial, etc. are labelled as 2.6V.

Does the 2.5 vs 2.6 V matter?

What might the SSTL stand for?

I have a 256 Meg Walmart machine apparently made by Balance Digital
Technology, who no longer makes desktop but does appear to make laptops,
but they are a manufacturer & won't talk to anyone. Walmart of course
just says "HUH?"
All I want to do is take it from 256 to 512 or a Gig depending on
whether i can work out the voltage question. Machine called 3 GHz but
actually has a 2.4 GHz Celeron in it.

You see this value during boot-up (POST message) right? This
could be that in the BIOS very often very *conservative*
settings are used, and changing a few items could get it to
run a bit faster. Unless of course you have a manual for the
PC that specifically says that the CPU tops at 2.4 GHz.

I run a AMD 1800 Athlon for a few month at 1500, til I
realized the shop where they put the thing together set it
wrong, and I got it running at 1900. To get precise
information on that look up "overclocking" not that I'd
advice to run the CPU out of specifications, but just so
that you can see what's involved.

Cpu Socket Socket 478

Max CPU Speed 3066 MHz (but running in 2.4 GHz machine).

Trimming your post I see that indeed you have room to *upper* it.
It's like driving down the road with just the 3. gear, while the
gearbox has 5. ..

Do you need the faster speed?

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on the voltage issue. Or
anything else for that matter.



Twayne

Dragomir Kollaric

 

[Twayne]

What might the SSTL stand for?:

http://www.interfacebus.com/SSTL_Logic_Interface.html

Will the replacement 2.6V memory work, most likely it will but I
would give Crucial a call and even if they can't answer your SSTL
voltage question, find out about their return/warranty policy.

JS

Done; they respond they're overloaded wtih questions etc. so still
wating. Soon as I open the package I own the stick, but that's no
problem. Rather I'm trying to make sure I don't have something that
works under today's ambient, whatever but not tomorrow's.

Thanks.

 

[Twayne]

You see this value during boot-up (POST message) right? This
could be that in the BIOS very often very *conservative*
settings are used, and changing a few items could get it to
run a bit faster. Unless of course you have a manual for the
PC that specifically says that the CPU tops at 2.4 GHz.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of exposing the post info: but I see it with
System INformation, SIW, a more thorough SI, by actual measurement, and
Crucial's system measurement when it inspects RAM.

I run a AMD 1800 Athlon for a few month at 1500, til I
realized the shop where they put the thing together set it
wrong, and I got it running at 1900. To get precise
information on that look up "overclocking" not that I'd
advice to run the CPU out of specifications, but just so
that you can see what's involved.

Hmm, I didn't realize it was something the user could get at. There's
nothing in the BIOS and no jumpers that I see (yet).
Any links or thoughts on how I might research that?

Trimming your post I see that indeed you have room to *upper* it.
It's like driving down the road with just the 3. gear, while the
gearbox has 5. ..

HEY, I owned that car too! :^)

Do you need the faster speed?

No, not really. The speed is really just a sort of "sidelight" I've
come across. I suppose there's even a reason for it being at 2.4 vs
3GHz. It's been "interesting" to note the mish-mash of parts in this
thing. No wonder Walmart can sell them so cheaply. I replaced the cpu
fan/heatsink because the fan gave upt he ghost, and looking up the
numbers, it was a fan for a 2 GHz cpu. I'd managed to get the old fan
going with a little WD-40 and sewing machine oil though, just so I could
see if hte processor had been damaged; it hadn't, according to all the
diags tests and readers I threw at it. I put a properly sized fan in
and the heatsink temp went from too hot to even consider touching to not
too hot to keep your finger on so it made quite a difference.

Thanks for your commens; appeaciate it. The actual problem I'm chasing
here, now that I think the hardware is all OK, is figuring out why it's
so incredibly slow, a slowness that's not because of lack of RAM.
There's so little in it, it shold boot in a couple minutes but it's
taking it six minutes, programs often open just as slowly and web sites
the same, moving around in a file, etc. etc.
Supposedly the OS was just reinstalled three days before it was
brought to me, but I'm beginning to think that wasn't true. Shadow copy
services were turned off, it was set as a member of a domain but there
was no domain to join and a couple other things like that. About all
I'm reasonably sure of now is that it's AV/malware free and that ain't
much help! Well, and that it's not a heat problem.
lol, you should see the cpu fan/psu fans! Their draw-sides are right
next to each other at 90 degrees, and they fight for the same air! The
cpu heat would come out the one side and drift right up into the psu
fan! If I can figure how to do it, I'm going to put a piece of
fishpaper in there to route the cpu heat to some nearby vents about an
inch away.

If I don't get anywhere with it today, I'll back it up and do a clean
install of the OS, but I sort of hate to: The original complaint was
that it'd be OK after a rebuild and then slowly go to pieces like this.

lol, sorry for the ling missive! Guess I'm mulling things in my mind
here.

Regards,

Twayne

 

[Bob Willard]

lol, you should see the cpu fan/psu fans! Their draw-sides are right
next to each other at 90 degrees, and they fight for the same air! The
cpu heat would come out the one side and drift right up into the psu
fan! If I can figure how to do it, I'm going to put a piece of
fishpaper in there to route the cpu heat to some nearby vents about an
inch away.

I would be very careful putting anything flammable inside a PC case.

In a couple of cases, I have bent tin (where it would not touch any
components or traces), I have bent plastic sheets (with a hair dryer),
and I have cut up plastic boxes; all to direct airflow inside the case.
I've also added internal fans; in one case, held in place (on an AGP card)
with string.

Even for me, fishpaper would be a new low.

 

[Dragomir Kollaric]

Hmm, I hadn't thought of exposing the post info: but I see it with
System INformation, SIW, a more thorough SI, by actual measurement, and
Crucial's system measurement when it inspects RAM.


Hmm, I didn't realize it was something the user could get at. There's
nothing in the BIOS and no jumpers that I see (yet).
Any links or thoughts on how I might research that?

Usually a line "Press key blabla" will let you get into the
BIOS This is when the PC starts. Living in Europe, I really
wouldn't know what Walmat puts together... but a way to
enter the BIOS should be, and no there are no jumpers to
set, as this is more like a "software" thing, before a OS is
being loaded.

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overclocking" will get you started.

HEY, I owned that car too! :^)


No, not really. The speed is really just a sort of "sidelight" I've
come across. I suppose there's even a reason for it being at 2.4 vs
3GHz. It's been "interesting" to note the mish-mash of parts in this
thing. No wonder Walmart can sell them so cheaply. I replaced the cpu
fan/heatsink because the fan gave upt he ghost, and looking up the
numbers, it was a fan for a 2 GHz cpu. I'd managed to get the old fan
going with a little WD-40 and sewing machine oil though, just so I could
see if hte processor had been damaged; it hadn't, according to all the
diags tests and readers I threw at it. I put a properly sized fan in
and the heatsink temp went from too hot to even consider touching to not
too hot to keep your finger on so it made quite a difference.

I've rigged up a Dual Core AMD 3800+ with passive
liquid-colling and it never hits more then 45° Celsius right
now more or less idle it 33° . It's truly a home-build
unit, and I cool the HDD's as well. I'm sure professionals
would be shocked if they'd see which spare parts I used for
the project. The liquid itself is similar to the one used in
cars with the difference one needs to use distilled water.
This is getting OT here ..

Thanks for your commens; appeaciate it. The actual problem I'm chasing
here, now that I think the hardware is all OK, is figuring out why it's
so incredibly slow, a slowness that's not because of lack of RAM.
There's so little in it, it shold boot in a couple minutes but it's
taking it six minutes, programs often open just as slowly and web sites
the same, moving around in a file, etc. etc.
Supposedly the OS was just reinstalled three days before it was
brought to me, but I'm beginning to think that wasn't true. Shadow copy
services were turned off, it was set as a member of a domain but there
was no domain to join and a couple other things like that. About all
I'm reasonably sure of now is that it's AV/malware free and that ain't
much help! Well, and that it's not a heat problem.
lol, you should see the cpu fan/psu fans! Their draw-sides are right
next to each other at 90 degrees, and they fight for the same air! The
cpu heat would come out the one side and drift right up into the psu
fan! If I can figure how to do it, I'm going to put a piece of
fishpaper in there to route the cpu heat to some nearby vents about an
inch away.

PSU fans have also the purpose to draw the hot air away from
the CPU, if I had put the PSU into the same box with the
motherboard, then I would have the same situation, with the
90° angle. So this could be a normal design. After all the
cooler on the CPU takes a lot of heat. My PSU was put into
another old PC case in which I rigged up a rack for 4 HDD,
they are cooled by two fans I connected in series, so that
the noise got reduced, and the air is moving in more places
just the same. Now the *loudest* on this Unit is the DVD-Rom
drive when it spins up. Can't do much about it.

If I don't get anywhere with it today, I'll back it up and do a clean
install of the OS, but I sort of hate to: The original complaint was
that it'd be OK after a rebuild and then slowly go to pieces like this.

I wouldn't know about this as I'm using another OS which would be OT
here...

lol, sorry for the ling missive! Guess I'm mulling things in my mind
here.

Regards,

Twayne

Dragomir Kollaric