A quickie about RAM

C

Cooperman

New member
I've just been out to buy some more RAM for my computer. When I got to the store they had run out of 64Mb PC100 type RAM. Being a lazy so and so I couldn't be bothered going to another store so I let the salesman talk me into buying 64Mb PC133 for an extra $10. He said that it wouldn't make any difference it being faster and that when in a year or two when PC133 is standard I'll be alright as far as upgrades go. Is this true? Will the faster type RAM work ok? I'm a dummy when it comes to computers.

Plus, when I put it, do I have to do anything special or will the computer automatically detect it and that's that.

Thanks for any help.
 
The pc 133 should work fine, and the salesman is right that it will be the standard within the next 2 years... However, if your motherboard only has a Front Side Bus of 100mhz, the PC 133 will only run at 100mhz, and will show no speed advantage over pc 100.

or at least that's how I understand it...

-stranger233
 
That's the way I understand it as well. You should be fine Cooperman. I've got 100 and 133 mixed in a couple of machines right now on 100Mhz bus boards with no problems so far.

Only thing I would add is that the way computer standards go, we might be seeing RDRAM, a more improved version of high performance SDRAM, or even some brand new thing be the standard in two years. Then again, it could just be good old PC133 SDRAM.
 
And in five years perhaps we'll see Magnetic RAM (MRAM).

- Non-volitile (truely).
- Should be less expensive than ROM and doesn't require a battery.
- Doesn't wear out like flash memory
- 20 times faster than capacitor memory

Sweet. You want a computer that's "on" when you hit the power button, you got it! Imagine how much less we'd hate Microsoft if rebooting only took one second.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Rebooting in 1 second... kindof like my 10 year old Atari 1040ST? (I can even get cartridge for stereo 16bit 50khz recording if I really want it) :)
 
I won't do it. Too much shame...

You guys are serious and I came (uh...) in here to make a disgusting comment about RAMming and quickies...
Sheesh!
Sorry Cooperman.
 
Sorry to get your hopes up there Brad... Thanks for everyones help... I've put it in and I'm glad with the results... I worked in n-Track (Win98) for 4 hours yesterday and not one crash... maybe just a coincidence... maybe not
 
Don't you hate it when something gets posted twice and you don't know why

[This message has been edited by Cooperman (edited 04-21-2000).]
 
I'd personally go with 128 megs of RAM with prices as affordable as they are, but the salesperson was right in telling you to go with PC133 RAM instead of PC100. It theoretically won't give you a speed boost on a computer with a 100mhz bus, but that stick of RAM will likely be one component you won't need to worry about it when it's time for another computer upgrade.
RDRAM is a long way off from becoming mainstream, due to obscene prices. Also, terms like "PC800" are a bit of a misnomer when dealing with RDRAM. Read about it here: http://www7.tomshardware.com/mainboard/00q2/000403/index.html

PC133 SDRAM is also the RAM of choice if you're going to overclock, because with current CPUs, overclocking can often only be accomplished by increasing the speed of your computer's front side bus. Not that I recommend overclocking. I haven't tried it, myself.
 
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