dumb question, but why is this sdram being detected at half its capacity?

[fdisk2003]

we have this fleet of older slot-1 celeron 333/333mhz systems. they have 3 slots for memory. they're way past their lifespan but we've been able to keep them going by upgrading them to 256mb ram and installing windows 2000. users mainly work through a telnet session so they don't need a beefy processor, they just need a more stable o/s.

so anyway, we lost our ram supplier and im trying to find a new one. we typically purchased pc-133, 256mb cl3 modules from this supplier. there was chips on both sides of the memory module.

so after we lost our supplier, every time i try to purchase pc-133 256mb modules off newegg.com or anywhere else they are always detected at 128mb.

can anyone tell me why, and what i need to be looking for to get ones that work at their rated capacity? if i need to supply more info i can. thanks.

 

[beatle]

The system only takes low density ram. High density ram is generally cheaper to produce, so it's harder to find low density stuff. If you do, it's usually a couple bucks more than high density.

EDIT: I had the same problem on my 300a @ 450 on a BH6 as well as my girlfriend's laptop (p3-650).

 

[Viper96720]

Use crucial

 

[beatle]

Any brand will work, but Crucial is nice in that they guarantee compatibility. I used generic stuff in my Celeron box, Kingston in the gf's laptop. Just make sure you know what you're getting. If they don't say, assume high density.

 

[redbeard1]

If whoever your getting ram from has tech support, ask them for Intel compatible sdram. If they don't know what that is, then I'd find someplace else.

 

[fdisk2003]

thanks all!

 

[lenjack]

This was certainly not a dumb question.