enquirer said:
I've read your replies, thankyou.
Have used Everest as advised and it reports:
Motherboard = Acer F90M 09/01/2005
SPD Memory Modules =
DIMM1: Nanya NT256t64UH4... 256 MB DDR2-400 DDR2 SDRAM (5.0-3-3-9 @ 200
MHz)
DIMM3: Nanya NT256t64UH4... 256 MB DDR2-400 DDR2 SDRAM (5.0-3-3-9 @ 200
MHz)
Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type = Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width = 128-bit
Real Clock = 200 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock = 400MHz
Bandwidth = 6400 MB/s
Thanks for any help.
enquirer
This could be an Acer Aspire E600 computer - I think I saw that association on
a smaller RAM supplier web site. I haven't been able to find any info
on the chipset used. It could be an Intel chipset with the option of built
in graphics. Like a 945G or something.
A couple of small RAM suppliers have made reference to using PC2-3200 or
PC2-4200. Your board has four RAM slots, of which two are filled. If the
current sticks are indeed PC2-3200 (DDR2-400) sticks, that will restrict
the operating speed of your total of four RAM sticks to DDR2-400 as well.
As long as the two DDR2-400 sticks are still in the machine.
http://www.goldenram.com/newupro/la...mfg=ACER-BOARDS&productline=MOTHERBOARDS#INFO
So if you cannot search for PC2-3200 and find any, then PC2-4200 (DDR2-533)
is an alternative.
I notice on the Crucial site, that the Acer Aspire E600 is not even
listed on their site! Which is a first for me, as usually when I look
up a modern computer on Crucial, it shows up when I search.
Kingston does have an entry for the Aspire E600. You can see it here.
Their idea is to only list DDR2-533 products as a solution. Which
should tell you that modules with DDR2-400 are no longer marketed
as such. Faster RAM can be used in slower applications. So the chipset
could be Intel 945G, as they show as much here. (And Everest can
verify that for you as well.)
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/modelsinfo.asp?SysID=26846
"MODULES MUST BE ORDERED AND INSTALLED IN PAIRS for Dual Channel mode."
I would search for 2x1GB PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) sticks. They don't have to be
Kingston. You can see the description of the Kingston 1GB module from the
above Kingston search result. The third link lists it as non-ECC and
unbuffered memory, which makes sense for a 945G chipset. (945 doesn't
support ECC, so there would be no benefit from buying it with your
computer.)
http://www.computerhq.com/Kingston_D12864E40/D12864E40/hardware/partinfo-id-540631.html
http://www.shentech.com/kingston-d12864e40.html
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/p_spc/Kingston-DDR2-1-GB-DRAM-D12864E40/25275518.html
So, lets consider some configuration options. Currently you have 2x256 DDR2-400
and you are going to buy 2x1GB DDR2-533. If you use all four together, they will
run at DDR2-400. If you remove the 2x256 and use just the 2x1GB, they might
run at DDR2-533 (assuming the BIOS is flexible enough to do that, and it should
be). There would be a slight performance increase by using only the two new
sticks, since they could run faster. The difference then, would be between
2.5GB at DDR2-400 and 2GB at DDR2-533. You can experiment with using the two
new sticks, or the total four sticks, and decide for yourself.
If I go to Newegg, and search for a matched pair of PC2-4200 desktop DIMMs,
this is the list:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2108080+1052308477+1052408147&Subcategory=147
This Kingston product is $90.99 for 2x1GB. Of the 39 reviews by customers,
2 customers report receiving a dead stick. Memory is CAS4 DDR2-533 operating
at 1.8V. I would only buy a product listing 1.8V, for best compatibility
(as some enthusiast RAM products spec higher voltage, and the Acer may not
have a BIOS option to increase the memory voltage, to make the memory
error free).
Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) CAS4 1.8V $90.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144157
This Corsair ValueSelect is $109.99. This has 7 reports of problems out
of 60 product reports.
Corsair ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) CAS4 1.8V $109.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145527
So you can see I'm looking for RAM with good customer reports. There are
other products with an even higher defect rate. The Gskill had 3 bad reports
out of 52. (Of course, how many customers actually received good sticks
is an unknown, as people with problems are more likely to report those,
than the happy customers. So it is hard to judge the relative sizes of
the happy and unhappy customers. But you have to use something as a
selection criterion.)
To test the memory when you get it, use memtest86+ from memtest.org . That
tester can make a boot floppy for you, or there is an ISO CD image you can
burn to a CD, making a bootable CD test disk. Microsoft also wrote their
own memory tester, listed here. You can even play with these tools, before
you buy your new memory, so you know how they work.
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
If the new memory is error free in at least a couple full passes (let it
run for a couple hours), then it is safe to boot into Windows. You'd remove
the memtest testing boot floppy or CD, and let your computer boot from the
hard drive.
Once in Windows, you can download Prime95 from mersenne.org . It has a
"Torture Test" option, and if the memory is flaky, the program could
stop and report an error in a matter of seconds. I would want this
program to run for at least 4 hours. Ideally, start Prime95 overnight,
watch it for 10 or 15 minutes, and if all still seems happy, leave it
running overnight. Again, you don't want the program stopping with
an error report, as a single error will stop it. If you can pass
Prime95, then I'd say your new memory purchase could be OK. This
program will make your CPU get hot, so expect your fans to be
running at a good speed.
And you can run Prime95 now as well, just so you can see how it
works.
Have fun,
Paul
