BIG memory and LITTLE OEM systems..

[yobarman]

I have ... 2 and half year old Compaq 5190. I'm looking to installed 2x 256 pc 100 sticks of RAM but the mobo doesn't support any stick greater than 128 MB. I'm wondering if there are any patches/hacks for the mobo that will let it support 256 sticks?

I know this is a long shot, but I don't want to be doomed to 3x128 = 384 MB of ram when 512 MB is only going to cost $120. I'm wanting to install WIN2K..will it survive with 384 ?

 

[Darksamie]

I doubt there is a hack for it...the only thing you may be able to try is looking for the latest BIOS on the compaq site. But that is a real longshot.

 

[Vincent]

Unless you're doing some specialized work that requires a ton of RAM, 384MB is more than enough for standard everyday use.

 

[yobarman]

So 384 should be fine for Win2k? I will only be doing lite photoshop work, but that's probably the most RAM eating program I have.

 

[drewski]

384 s/b fine.

i'm not familiar with the Compaq, but you might want to go for pc133 vs pc100 if your mobo can support it. even if your mobo doesn't support it, the price diff is not significant, and if you decide to upgrade you'd 1) be able to use it in a newer mobo, or 2) if you went with RDRAM or DDR, you'd probably get better resale for it.

for that matter, if you're doing a lot of photoshop, you may want to upgrade the CPU as well.

 

[MadRat]

Compaq OEM systems tend to require ECC memory.

 

[Rogue]

Not true Madrat. Very few of them outside of their Workstation or Server units require ECC. A Compaq 5190 is a Presario unit and they all use standard PC100 SD-RAM. Compaq will tell you that they require gold contacts, but that's a load of crap too.