can socket 7 motherboards use pc133 memory?

[m8ulook]

I've got an extra stick of pc133 memory than I want to use for an old socket7 motherboard. I know that these mobos use pc100 memory but can they use pc133? I tried it but the computer would not boot up but I'm not sure it's a memory issue. If anyone could let me know, it would save me a lot of troubleshooting time.

Thanks!

 

[Chromeus]

Yes most brands of Pc-133 SDRAM are backwards compatible with any Mainboard that can use PC-100 SDRAM. However some problems may arise when mixing the two types. The main concern being the 'timing' or CAS. Make sure that both are the same, or try setting them the same if the BIOS allows. IF that doesn't work stick with whichever gives you the most RAM. Also there is a BIOS setting which may help in situations like this, but I don't recall what it is

 

[m8ulook]

i'm not using any other kind of memory in that socket7 motherboard other than my 1 stick of pc133 memory. But you said it should work so I'll continue troubleshooting. It might be some of the jumper settings or maybe some of my peripherals that are causing this computer to not allow me to POST. Will check it out. Thanks for the help Chromeus!

 

[erniecc]

The question is not whether it is PC133 or PC100, or whether cas 2 or cas3 at these ratings. The problem is that some of the older motherboards, such as socket 7, can not support the configuration of some of the new sdram memory sticks or of the individual chips. Thus some PC133 cas3 may work, and on the other hand, some PC100 cas2 may not.

From a theoretical standpoint, check with your motherboard supplier what memory the board supports. Or go to the crucial site, and it will tell you exactly what memory they have that is supported by your motherboard. Then look up the specification for that.

From a practical standpoint,set all your bios settings to default and also jumper your board with default settings. If that works, then you can start to tweak it to increase performance. If not, you are probably out of luck. good luck.

 

[cavingjan]

Another thing is the voltage for the memory. There was an old 5V that had the same pin configuration. (Am I remembering this correctly?) If you computer can use PC66 memory, there is a chance it can use it.

 

[jamarno]

Some ancient PC66 boards had DIMM sockets but could not use SDRAM, only EDO and FPM (I've never heard of FPM DIMM, only EDO), and some of that EDO DIMM worked at 5V instead of the 3.3V used by all of today's DIMMs. You may want to read the numbers off the chip set to see what it supports. TX, whether Intel or anyone else, can use SDRAM.

I've had problems with only one brand of PC133: Infineon. Their CAS3 PC133 SDRAM may have to be set to CAS2 to work reliably at PC100 or PC66 speeds.

 

[bacillus]

on a personal note, I recently worked on a socket 7 m/board & it supported both edo & sdram but in order to use sdram , you had to set a voltage jumper to 3.3V instead of 5V for edo ram. may be worth checking!
the max size stick of sdram the board could see was 64Mb. this was on a VX chipset.
also found that the m/board battery was flat so you may just want to check out that avenue with your board!