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DIMMs still readily available??

M

MikeMusic

Junior Member
I'm installing Win2k Pro on my brother's Gateway Pentium 3 machine that has ME. It's currently got 128 MB RAM, and Gateway tells me it's a 128 MB DIMM, 133 MHz. They tell me I should order from them, but I don't want to wait (I'll be gone) and their prices ($70+ shipping for 128 MB, $140 + shipping for 256 MB) seem steep to me. There's a Fry's near here. Do you think I can buy a 256 MB DIMM there that will work OK in this machine? Or am I taking a chance going that route? The Gateway guy told me doing so would void the remaining 2 years on their parts replacement warrranty, but I'm thinking SO WHAT? Thanks for your help.
 
I say screw gateway. Go to crucial.om and use their memory selector (you might even jsut buy from them as it will probably be better ram at cheaper price then fry's) and use their memory guide. At the very leat it will tell you what kind of memory you should get.
 


<< I say screw gateway. Go to crucial.om and use their memory selector (you might even jsut buy from them as it will probably be better ram at cheaper price then fry's) and use their memory guide. At the very leat it will tell you what kind of memory you should get. >>

Cool idea! That's how I got the RAM for my own machine last June, 2 x 256 MB SIMMs, ECC. Hopefully, I can find the machine at Crucial.com.
 


<< That thing sould be able to use the same 256 meg SDRAM DIMM that anything else uses. >>

I just drilled down at Crucial.com and they have two different 256 MB DIMMS (and other sizes) for this machine, CL=3 and CL=2, slightly different prices, with the CL=2 costing a bit more. Does it matter which I get? If so, I assume it depends on the DIMM in there now. How would I find out what's in there? Thanks...
 
those aren't different sizes. cl=2 and cl=3 refers to memory timing speeds, with cl=2 being faster. i would pay a little extra and get the cl=2, if i were you. it really doesn't matter what ram is already in the box. unlikes SIMM's, DIMM's don't need be matched, or installed in pairs.

--jacob
 
256MB $43.19 CT32M64S4D7E SDRAM, PC133 ? CL=2 ? Unbuffered ? Non-parity ? 7.5ns ? 3.3V ? 32Meg x 64

Thats probably what ya need. I can't imagine them putting in ECC or registerd memory into a gateway home PC.
 
I would pick up myself 512MB of CL2 memory if I were you, if you don't plan on upgrading for while. Then get rid of that memory that is probably cheap and crappy that came with your system.
 


<< 256MB $43.19 CT32M64S4D7E SDRAM, PC133 ? CL=2 ? Unbuffered ? Non-parity ? 7.5ns ? 3.3V ? 32Meg x 64

Thats probably what ya need. I can't imagine them putting in ECC or registerd memory into a gateway home PC. >>

I ordered what came up at Crucial for this machine in terms of 256 MB CL=2, one stick, which came up as: CT187548 256 MB, 168-pin DIMM, $43.19, Upgrade for a Gatreway Performance 800 System.
 
No, the cheapest place is Crucial. The sites you get from Pricewatch may be good indicators of when something is released, but if you buy something from them, more than half the time you will regret it (only the ones on the first page 🙂). Unless, of course, they are reliable vendors like Mwave, Newegg, Crucial, TCWO, EMS Computing and the like.
 


<< I would pick up myself 512MB of CL2 memory if I were you, if you don't plan on upgrading for while. Then get rid of that memory that is probably cheap and crappy that came with your system. >>

It hadn't occured to me to just chuck the stick in there now. I haven't seen it, but I think it's one 128 MB stick, not 2 x 64 MB. The guy I talked to on the phone at Gateway told me there's 4 sockets but Crucial reported only 2! I guess there's one 128 MB stick in there. I suppose could get another 256 MB stick at some point. Truly, my brother (it's his machine) isn't a power user so he'll probably be OK with 384 MB RAM (? - assuming things don't escalate too quickly :Q )
 
Mike, 70 dollars for a 128mb stick of sdram is a rippoff and you should go elsewhere and get it for less than half that price. Don't pay any attention to them saying anything about voiding their warranty, just make sure if you need to use their warranty for anything to take out anything you replace and put back in their components, and make sure there is no sticker and if there is make sure you can re-affix it to the case.

Sometimes they put a sticker where the case comes apart to tell if you have worked on it. If you want to be really slick about it you can call them and tell them that your modem doesn't work at all, they will likely tell you to open your case and reseat it if all else fails. There you go, they opened the case for you, therefore making it so you didn't void it by opening it, but that situation is a last resort. Just install the memory.

As for what memory you need, you can basically probably use any old pc100 or pc133 cas 2 or cas 3 memory. pc133 cas2 memory is the best and pc100 cas 3 is the lowest performing. Second best choice would be pc133 cas 3 and you do not want anything that is pc100 so if it has that in it's description you don't want it, you only want pc133, preferably pc133 cas2.

Good Luck
John-Paul AKA veryape
 
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