RAMBUS Question

[BarryD]

I've got a pc I bought from Gateway about a year ago. Its a p4 Intel motherboard with RDRam. 256 megs total ram...two 128 sticks and two of those "fake" ram that you need to have in the empty slots. Its samsung ram that runs at 800mhz data ratet (2x400)

I was hoping to buy 256 megs more of ram and I found some on ebay. It's samsung PC800 and comes on one stick.

I'm presuming I can buy this, take out one of the "fake" ram sticks and put the 256 stick in and have no problems?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[sKuLLsHoT]

rambus sticks have to be used in pairs afaik, i did read that later versions of it are available as single sticks, that then puts the question on hte motherboard as to whether it supports single sticks...

but given u have already got paired RDRAM and 2 of the terminators in the other slots then i'd say u wouldn't be able to buy just one stick esp if the PC is a year old from gateway!

[Raven]

RAMBUS is the root of all evil that isn't already covered by Microsoft ;)

I recall they used to make something that had the same requirements as RAMBUS (pairs, etc..).. they called them SIMMs.

Theoretically the dummy stick would make it work, but I wouldn't bet all your money on that gamble. If you've got a friend with a RAMBUS stick you might want to see if you can test it first before you buy the new stick.

[bolson]

Just as an advance warning,

I wouldn't waste your time buying ram from ebay. Yes there are plenty of credible retailers out there, but if you get it for cheaper than you can find at an online store, you are almost garunteed to have an underperforming memory module or a defective module.

There are a significant number of people who take RMA ram modules and sell them on ebay to make a quick buck. It is worth the extra $30 to buy from a legit resaler.