the different between PC133 low density and PC133 high density?

[june]

hy all,

i'm looking for some info regarding subject above.. i have an old
desktop pc Pentium III 800mhz (Intel Motherboard) that i'm going to
use as a gateway router but memorycard seems to be my major problem..
not working and need to be replaced..

so i bought new 512mb but its not working, system freeze during boot
up.. so my friend suggest me to get PC133 256mb low density that
usually support backward compability with PC100/PC66 mhz..

does anyone know how to compare which is PC133 low density and which
is PC133 high density? recently i use PC100 32mb and PC100 64mb
brought em from a friend..

thanks in advance... mwah ...

 

[Mike Easter]

june wrote:
Subject: the different between PC133 low density and PC133 high density?

i'm looking for some info regarding subject above.. i have an old
desktop pc Pentium III 800mhz (Intel Motherboard) that i'm going to
use as a gateway router but memorycard seems to be my major problem..
not working and need to be replaced..

so i bought new 512mb but its not working, system freeze during boot
up.. so my friend suggest me to get PC133 256mb low density that
usually support backward compability with PC100/PC66 mhz..

does anyone know how to compare which is PC133 low density and which
is PC133 high density? recently i use PC100 32mb and PC100 64mb
brought em from a friend..

Here's snippages from an article with pics http://snipr.com/sgykx

How to tell if your 512MB module is a low or high density module?

All low density 512MB modules are made with 16 chips (8 chips on each
side) using 32Mx8 device.
Some low density 512MB modules are made with 16 chips (8 chips on each
side) using 16Mx16 device.
All high density 512MB modules are made with 8 chips (8 chips on one
side with the other side blank OR 4 chips on each side) using 64Mx8 OR
32Mx16 device.

In this case, it still costs memory manufacturers almost the same to
produce all versions of these chip, but low density module always
requires DOUBLE the amount of chips to make the same 512MB module than
high density. Hence low density modules are usually double the price of
high density modules of the same capacity.


The article also discusses the issue from the perspective of 1G and
256meg chips.

 

[june]

june wrote:

Subject: the different between PC133 low density and PC133 high density?




Here's snippages from an article with picshttp://snipr.com/sgykx

How to tell if your 512MB module is a low or high density module?

  All low density 512MB modules are made with 16 chips (8 chips on each
side) using 32Mx8 device.
  Some low density 512MB modules are made with 16 chips (8 chips on each
side) using 16Mx16 device.
  All high density 512MB modules are made with 8 chips (8 chips on one
side with the other side blank OR 4 chips on each side) using 64Mx8 OR
32Mx16 device.

  In this case, it still costs memory manufacturers almost the same to
produce all versions of these chip, but low density module always
requires DOUBLE the amount of chips to make the same 512MB module than
high density. Hence low density modules are usually double the price of
high density modules of the same capacity.

The article also discusses the issue from the perspective of 1G and
256meg chips.

thanks for the info...

 

[Paul]

thanks for the info...

Go to Crucial.com and enter the motherboard name there. And see
what they recommend for memory.

When I needed some 256MB modules for my 440BX system, Crucial
had the right ones.

If you'd mentioned the name of the motherboard, it might have
been easier to track down the max module size. Does it take
512MB modules ?

At least one Intel chipset has another issue. Intel put an
artificial limitation on the total installed memory. For
that chipset, you can install 512MB modules, but the
total maximum for the system is 512MB. So all you can
install in that case, is one module. (Or 3x128MB and
stay under the 512MB total limit.) By comparison, VIA
provided the ability to use 3x512MB in a competing chipset.
So in some cases, the Intel chipsets are just... stupid.
Apparently, the Intel marketing department had some strategy
up their sleeve, but I don't remember what their
grand plan was.

Paul

 

[jinxy]

Go to Crucial.com and enter the motherboard name there. And see
what they recommend for memory.

When I needed some 256MB modules for my 440BX system, Crucial
had the right ones.

If you'd mentioned the name of the motherboard, it might have
been easier to track down the max module size. Does it take
512MB modules ?

At least one Intel chipset has another issue. Intel put an
artificial limitation on the total installed memory. For
that chipset, you can install 512MB modules, but the
total maximum for the system is 512MB. So all you can
install in that case, is one module. (Or 3x128MB and
stay under the 512MB total limit.) By comparison, VIA
provided the ability to use 3x512MB in a competing chipset.
So in some cases, the Intel chipsets are just... stupid.
Apparently, the Intel marketing department had some strategy
up their sleeve, but I don't remember what their
grand plan was.

    Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Here is some reading you may find useful.
http://www.dewassoc.com/performance/memory/how_to_id_pc133.htm
-J

 

[Mike Easter]

Here is some reading you may find useful.
http://www.dewassoc.com/performance/memory/how_to_id_pc133.htm

That's a pretty nice page, but the only thing it sez about density is
how to find the density value in the part number.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

i'm looking for some info regarding subject above.. i have an old
desktop pc Pentium III 800mhz (Intel Motherboard) that i'm going to
use as a gateway router but memory card seems to be my major problem..
not working and need to be replaced..

so i bought new 512mb but its not working, system freeze during boot
up.. so my friend suggest me to get PC133 256mb low density that
usually support backward compability with PC100/PC66 mhz..

does anyone know how to compare which is PC133 low density and which
is PC133 high density? recently i use PC100 32mb and PC100 64mb
brought em from a friend..

I'd use the memory selectors at dealers like Kingston.com and
Crucial.com because they're conservative in their recommendations
(both they said Dell Latitude and Toshiba A205 laptops couldn't use
modules bigger than 1GB each, but a 2GB module worked fine in them).
The motherboard's chipset or the computer's model number matters more
than the type of CPU.

Also you may want to buy memory that's not only rated for PC133 but
also for PC100 because it will always work in your system. I don't
think "density" is the right word to describe the PC133 memory you
need because I had a 256MB module that wasn't fully recognized by my
Intel 440BX motherboard and probably not by my Intel 810i mobo,
either. It had 16 DRAM chips on it, just like the 256MB modules that
worked perfectly with those mobos, but instead of each chip being 16M
x 8b, each chip was 32M x 4b. Apparently what matters is for the
first number to be no higher than 16M.

Another way to check the memory is by Googleing the numbers written on
the chips (you may have to try one row at a time because some of the
numbers are the date code, not the part number). If they're actual
chip manufacturer numbers, a search should return a 10-100 page PDF
technical document from Samsung (SEC) Micron, Hynix, Nanya, Winbond,
etc., and it'll be full of numbers, diagrams, and even useful
information (i.e., whether the chip is organized 16M x 8b, 32M x 8b,
etc). OTOH if they're numbers from Kingston, Corsair, Mushkin, or
another module-only maker, your search will probably turn up empty.
BTW, modules made with chips marked in full by the chip makers tend to
be the best ones because other modules are made with reject chips
(euphemistically called UTT -- UnTesTed) and tested only with PCs.
I've gotten lots of errors with such modules, even major brands.
Speaking of testing, use a good memory diagnostic, like MemTest86
ver. 3.x (www.memtest86.com).

 

[NT]

I'd use the memory selectors at dealers like Kingston.com and
Crucial.com because they're conservative in their recommendations
(both they said Dell Latitude and Toshiba A205 laptops couldn't use
modules bigger than 1GB each, but a 2GB module worked fine in them).
The motherboard's chipset or the computer's model number matters more
than the type of CPU.

Also you may want to buy memory that's not only rated for PC133 but
also for PC100 because it will always work in your system.  I don't
think "density" is the right word to describe the PC133 memory you
need because I had a 256MB module that wasn't fully recognized by my
Intel 440BX motherboard  and probably not by my Intel 810i mobo,
either.  It had 16 DRAM chips on it, just like the 256MB modules that
worked perfectly with those mobos, but instead of each chip being 16M
x 8b, each chip was 32M x 4b.   Apparently what matters is for the
first number to be  no higher than 16M.

Another way to check the memory is by Googleing the numbers written on
the chips (you may have to try one row at a time because some of the
numbers are the date code, not the part number).  If they're actual
chip manufacturer numbers, a search should return a 10-100 page PDF
technical document from Samsung (SEC) Micron, Hynix, Nanya, Winbond,
etc., and it'll be full of numbers, diagrams, and even useful
information (i.e., whether the chip is organized 16M x 8b, 32M x 8b,
etc).  OTOH if they're numbers from Kingston, Corsair, Mushkin, or
another module-only maker, your search will probably turn up empty.
BTW, modules made with chips marked in full by the chip makers tend to
be the best ones because other modules are made with reject chips
(euphemistically called UTT -- UnTesTed) and tested only with PCs.
I've gotten lots of errors with such modules, even major brands.
Speaking of testing, use  a good memory diagnostic, like MemTest86
ver. 3.x (www.memtest86.com).

I've never come across or heard of SDRAM that wont run at below rated
speed, assuming it works at all. In fact running sticks below rated
speed was a way to use up some sticks that failed at rated speed.


NT

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I've never come across or heard of SDRAM that wont run at below rated
speed, assuming it works at all. In fact running sticks below rated
speed was a way to use up some sticks that failed at rated speed.

Apparently it's not the speed rating of PC100 that matters here but
its compatibility with the limit on the number of rows or columns.

 

[Mike Easter]

so i bought new 512mb but its not working, system freeze during boot
up..

- how does the ram look in the BIOS POST?
- how does the ram test to something like memtest?

 

[Paul]

I've never come across or heard of SDRAM that wont run at below rated
speed, assuming it works at all. In fact running sticks below rated
speed was a way to use up some sticks that failed at rated speed.


NT

Speed is one aspect, but not the only one. Violating setup or hold time
will also prevent something from working.

Paul

 

[NT]

NT wrote:

You've been *damned* lucky.

Ask anyone who's ever played with "Super Socket 7" stuff can well explain..

I've played with a fair bit of socket 7...


NT

 

[NT]

There's a big jump when you add Super to that.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Socket_7

Whoever wrote this didn't like to add any off the good stuff that
happened, but the author is correct about weird chipset issues and such.
What would work with one brand's mobo wouldn't work with another brand
mobo *with the same chipset*.

For me it started with the first shot fired, the FIC PA-2007.

I've still got a working system with a DFI mobo, 1 gig of RAM, and a
K6/III+ that overclocks from 450 to 600 (on air cool!) that outruns
PIIIs up to 1 ghz.

I went thru hell getting everything right (about 60% of that finding RAM
that worked stably),  but that box still amazes me for what it could do
at the price.

Interesting, I'd never even heard of super 7, despite playing with a
fair bit of kit of that era


NT