XP Home on P-III 700

[Jo]

Because the different RAM can be made of different materials
which have different electrical characteristics and/or because
differences in the physical layout of the RAM modules can affect
the length of the electrical path and therefore the time that it
takes the signal to travel that path.

That is right. Computer speeds are now such that the time it
takes an electrical signal to travel a centimeter is a
significant portion of a CPU cycle on a multi-ghz processor.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

You are very selective in answering my points, and your latest
bluster, whilst accurate, is irrelevant to the point you purport to
address.

I smell BS.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I understand data skew problems on a parallel bus. A faulty or
overclocked RAM stick might well produce such a problem.

But
1) Why would mismatch *between* ram sticks (that are not faulty and
are both operating within spec) cause such a problem?

There are things based on Timing loops, where it is expected that a loop
shall finish to synchronise with some other task. And if the loop is in
RAM of different characteristics, it will fail to do so. And as I said
in another post the authority for that is one of the system developers
directly concerned.

 

[Malke]

There are things based on Timing loops, where it is expected that a
loop
shall finish to synchronise with some other task. And if the loop is
in
RAM of different characteristics, it will fail to do so. And as I
said in another post the authority for that is one of the system
developers directly concerned.

I am not an engineer or programmer type, so I can't address the WHY's
like Alex and Ron have. However, as a working tech doing computer
repair and support for many years, I *can* tell you that however you
might enjoy arguing about this subject, mismatched RAM *can* cause
problems in some computers. In others, it will make no difference. It
is very much motherboard-dependent. My testbed box doesn't care that it
has mismatched RAM or the order (highest MB stick to lowest, etc.) or
what slots it is in. Other boxen do. That's just the way it is from a
practical, real-world standpoint.

It is also important to note that having good, non-marginal, RAM is
crucial (hah hah) to all modern operating systems, not just Windows.
Linux, for example, is equally fussy about the RAM being good.

Malke

 

[Ron Martell]

You are very selective in answering my points, and your latest
bluster, whilst accurate, is irrelevant to the point you purport to
address.

I smell BS.

*plonk*


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[Jo]

However, as a working tech doing
computer repair and support for many years, I *can* tell you
that however you might enjoy arguing about this subject,
mismatched RAM *can* cause problems in some computers. In
others, it will make no difference. It is very much
motherboard-dependent.

Exactly. It is not Windows-dependent.

My testbed box doesn't care that it has
mismatched RAM or the order (highest MB stick to lowest, etc.)
or what slots it is in. Other boxen do. That's just the way it
is from a practical, real-world standpoint.

.... and such problems are usually readily identified e.g. fails to
boot or fails memory testing. Which is why I always run MEMTES86
for a couple of cycles after upgrading or replacing memory.

It is also important to note that having good, non-marginal, RAM
is crucial (hah hah)

Agreed. But it is *not* necessary to have very closely matched RAM
to the tolerances implied by other respondents to this string.

to all modern operating systems, not just
Windows. Linux, for example, is equally fussy about the RAM
being good.

Fussiness is not specific to operating systems, ancient or modern.
Look at it another way: how would it be possible to write software
that is *not* fussy about RAM quality? i.e. a program which would
tolerate its own instructions and data being read incorrectly from
memory. Even a RAM test program can only work on the basis that the
RAM that it occupies itself works correctly.