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DDR Ram compatibility

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  • DDR Ram compatibility

    Hey my friend just baught a pc from dell.com. It has not arrived yet, but it's on its way. I saw the specs after he pruchased it, and I noticed he only got it with 128mb's of PC2700 ram(333mhz). It's a P4 2.4 at 533fsb. Anyways the dell's webstie says the ram will operate at 266mhz, if it wasnt for the 533 fsb, (but thats irrelevant I think). My feelings are that he should at least have 256mb. He will be running XP, and plans on doing alittle gaming, but for the most part not much at all. According to the specs, the board only has 2 DIMM slots. My question is: is all ddr pc2700 compatible. Could we install any other type 128mb of pc2700 in his mobo, to make a combined total of 256? If not, will I need to take a look at the ram dell uses, and purchase that exact ram? And once we do get it installed how do I go about the mobo reconizing it. I have never played with DDR, only RDRAM, and old SDRAM, im not sure if it's tricky, or if it's just "plug and play". Anyways I totally appreciate the help, and suggestions. Thanks alot.

  • #2
    Some motherboards are pickier than others. I’m afraid there’s no pat answer to your question. I’ve no experience with Dell’s so couldn’t say for sure if they have to be the same brand. You do want to try and get another stick with the same timings RAS, RCD, RP and CAS. Usually shown in numbers like 6-2-2-2, 7-3-3-2.5 ect. You’ll have a better chance of them being compatible that way. Plus it’s better for performance. If the owners manual or the “For lack of a better word.” BIOS don’t give you the ram timings there are programs that will. Sandra use to give them to me on my old board. Generally nothing extra is needed when you add ram but check the owner’s manual to be sure. You never know. You might have to change a jumper but I doubt it. Hope this helps some.

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    • #3
      Hey also I was wondering, can you run a 128 stick, and a 256 stick on the same mobo. It's Samsung ddr333, im not sure of the timings yet.

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      • #4
        You can try it. I’ve done it on most of the boards I’ve owned. Also even if there not the same timings they still might work. They’ll just run at the timings of the slower chip.

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