Did Fry's tell me lies?! Rambus + Terminator question inside!

[ZenMonkey]

Ok....went to Fry's and picked up 4 128meg Mushkin 1066 Rdram. Anyway, the salesguy insisted that I buy some kind of chip called a Terminator and told me that the ram would not work without it. As far as I know, Rambus ram needs to be installed in pairs, and in my system (Gigabyte 8Ihxp) I will be filling all slots with 128 meg chips. If I only used 2 chips, I do know that I would need the continuity chips (crimms?) that I believe came with my motherboard. Well the guy told me that the terminators go in beside the ram. What gives? I ended up just buying the ram (will install tomorrow). What does this Terminator chip do?

ZM

 

[XMan]

You are correct, you only need a C-RIMM if you are leaving an open slot. If you're filling all four slots with memory you're good to go.

 

[ZenMonkey]

A followup question...I searched the boards and couldn't really find any advice on Mushkin memory...its the standard 1066 i guess. I got my money back on the OCZ I had bought after I read a lot...hope I'm not too wishywashy

Also...I couldn't find any 256 meg chips locally so rather than 2x256 I went with 4x128...is this less effective? I've been told so, but who knows?

ZM

 

[Valinos]

OCZ is just rebranded generic memory. Stay very far away from them. They can suck a dick.

 

[MadRat]

Originally posted by: X-Man
You are correct, you only need a C-RIMM if you are leaving an open slot. If you're filling all four slots with memory you're good to go.

Except that Intel only certifies operation of a single pair in Pentium4 boards. You have to go XEON to support more than one pair.

 

[AndyHui]

Except that Intel only certifies operation of a single pair in Pentium4 boards. You have to go XEON to support more than one pair.

That's news to me. I have never heard of such a thing, and I have never seen anything to suggest that the i840 and i850(E) chipsets only support 1 pair of RIMMs.

If that was the case, why does EVERY i840 or i850(E) come with 4 RIMM slots?

 

[Valinos]

Originally posted by: AndyHui

Except that Intel only certifies operation of a single pair in Pentium4 boards. You have to go XEON to support more than one pair.

That's news to me. I have never heard of such a thing, and I have never seen anything to suggest that the i840 and i850(E) chipsets only support 1 pair of RIMMs.

If that was the case, why does EVERY i840 or i850(E) come with 4 RIMM slots?

Because MadRat smoked a big crack rock before he posted

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: MadRat

Originally posted by: X-Man
You are correct, you only need a C-RIMM if you are leaving an open slot. If you're filling all four slots with memory you're good to go.

Except that Intel only certifies operation of a single pair in Pentium4 boards. You have to go XEON to support more than one pair.

That's funny since I've got four sticks in my TH7-II right now!

Kramer

 

[FluxCapacitor]

Well the guy told me that the terminators go in beside the ram. What gives?

Well, considering the requirements to work on the sales floor aren't that strenuous, and that he's probably making a whopping $1 over minimum wage, you can see why he just might not be the expert you think he is. Oh yeah, and there's a high possiblity he's just stupid

Personally, I think that if you DO really know what you're talking about, they won't hire you for those positions. Wanna know why? Cause you might tell the customer how things REALLY work and not just babble off what the customer wants to hear so you can make a sale. Think about it.

 

[dullard]

Also...I couldn't find any 256 meg chips locally so rather than 2x256 I went with 4x128...is this less effective? I've been told so, but who knows?

You were correct on the CRIMMS, you don't need them. You would have no where to put them.

As for the 2x256 and 4x128 there is no noticible speed difference at default speeds. However if you want to overclock, you now have to make sure you have 4 RIMMS capable of overclocking instead of two. The more parts you have, the more likely you will get a part that doesn't overclock well. So overclockers generally keep to as few parts as possible. If that doesn't bother you, the 4x128 will work just fine.

Some people make a claim that since RDRAM is serial, more RIMMS would slow down the memory. Their logic says the electricity must travel from the memory controller, through all 4 RIMMS, and back - thus it must take longer with 4 RIMMS. However they forget that with just 2 RIMMS the electricity still must travel the same distance: from the memory controller, through the 2 RIMMS, through the 2 CRIMMS, and back to the memory controller. There is no measurable speed difference if you have a CRIMM or a RIMM.

 

[newbiepcuser]

Posted by Andy Hui
If that was the case, why does EVERY i840 or i850(E) come with 4 RIMM slots?

I only see two rimm slots for the Asus P4T533 i850E

Specifications:
Supported CPU:Socket 478 for Intel® Pentium® 4
Chipset:Intel® 82850E MCH Intel® 82801 BA ICH2
FSB:533 / 400 MHz
RAM:2 x 232-pin 32-bit RIMM Sockets support max. 2GB PC800 RIMM3200 (800MHz) /PC1066 RIMM4200 (1066MHz) ECC / non-ECC RAMBUS memory.
IDE:2 x UltraDMA RAID 133/ 100 / 66 / 33
Slots:1 x AGP Pro (1.5V only) 6 x PCI
Ports:2xCOM,2xPS2,2xUSB, and Audio Ports

pics

 

[SexyK]

Originally posted by: newbiepcuser

Posted by Andy Hui
If that was the case, why does EVERY i840 or i850(E) come with 4 RIMM slots?

I only see two rimm slots for the Asus P4T533 i850E

Specifications:
Supported CPU:Socket 478 for Intel® Pentium® 4
Chipset:Intel® 82850E MCH Intel® 82801 BA ICH2
FSB:533 / 400 MHz
RAM:2 x 232-pin 32-bit RIMM Sockets support max. 2GB PC800 RIMM3200 (800MHz) /PC1066 RIMM4200 (1066MHz) ECC / non-ECC RAMBUS memory.
IDE:2 x UltraDMA RAID 133/ 100 / 66 / 33
Slots:1 x AGP Pro (1.5V only) 6 x PCI
Ports:2xCOM,2xPS2,2xUSB, and Audio Ports

pics

That's because the P4T533 uses 32-bit RIMMs instead of the typical 16-bit variety. Drastically simplified, each of those two 32-bit slots is the equivalent of two 16-bit slots. Technically you're right that there are only 2 slots, but its exactly equivalent to having 4 slots on all the other 850 boards (because in the P4T533 you dont need to install RAM in pairs.)

Kramer

 

[newbiepcuser]

Technically you're right that there are only 2 slots

Hey, I'll take that. I just want to give the FAQ man a hard time.

 

[fluxquantum]

Originally posted by: Valinos
OCZ is just rebranded generic memory. Stay very far away from them. They can suck a dick.

LMAO!!