In need of motherboard historian..

jakobkraft

Golden Member
Jan 21, 2002
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My friend got a truly old PC from her last job, which only has 16MB of memory! She would like to substantially increase that, but doesn't know what sort of memory to get. I opened the tower and saw that the motherboard model is a VIA VT82C585VPX. From researching online I found out that it supports SDRAM, which I figured, but which kind (PC-100, PC-133, does it even make a difference)?

Any help would be appreciated...
 

jakobkraft

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Jan 21, 2002
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I see, but what model memory, in other words what version of SDRAM will it support? I only know of two, PC-100SDRAM and PC-133SDRAM, and that sheet doesn't indicate either. Is it because it doesn't matter and will accept any type of SDRAM?
 

Dennis Travis

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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This seems like it's an old Pentium system. I bet it takes only 72-Pin Simms. Some of the newer boards take Dimms also but most take the old 5Volt Dimms. What CPU is on the board? I bet it's a Pentium 75-233. Can you take off the Heat Sink off the CPU - With the Power Unplugged by the way!! - and see what the CPU is?

Also if the system does post get the Bios code on the screen where it counts the memory. Should be down by the bottom of the screen. With that you can do a search on even Google and Wims Bios Page and find out who made the motherboard and then find out what RAM it takes for sure.

Hope this helps.

 

WarCon

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Feb 27, 2001
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You really need to find out the model number of the motherboard. This probably took SDRAM (before the first speed increase to PC100, it was just called SDRAM). Problem is there was multiple kinds of SDRAM and two voltages(3.3V and 5.0V) during this time. There was fast page mode, EDO, and sychronous SDRAM. Using wrong kind might be catastrophic failure for the memory. That chipset supported all three, but how the manufacturer configured it or used jumpers to set it up is something you will need to know before buying memory.
 

bfonnes

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Aug 10, 2002
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Originally posted by: WarCon
You really need to find out the model number of the motherboard. This probably took SDRAM (before the first speed increase to PC100, it was just called SDRAM). Problem is there was multiple kinds of SDRAM and two voltages(3.3V and 5.0V) during this time. There was fast page mode, EDO, and sychronous SDRAM. Using wrong kind might be catastrophic failure for the memory. That chipset supported all three, but how the manufacturer configured it or used jumpers to set it up is something you will need to know before buying memory.

yea, I would watch the EDO, FPM, or SDRAM thing... Before SDRAM, they used to be rated in Nanoseconds. Usually 50-60 ns for EDO types, and 60-70 ns for FPM (likely the type you need to use in this machine.) You can differentiate the type of RAM by the number of pins. New DDR SDRAM has 184 pins. The normal, old SDRAM (Which I still use in my machine unfortunately) has 168 pins, and they are each known as DIMMS. The older types, EDO and FPM are known as SIMMS, and have 72 pins, because when they first came out they were called "72-pin SIMMS". Even all FPM memory is not created equal, and I believe the modules came in a 36 pin variety. So, the more important thing is that you find out the number of pins, too. Yea, basically watch that catastrophic failure thing. If you pay attention to the number of pins, then you can't go wrong, except for the EDO and FPM thing, which have the same number of pins, but using EDO in a FPM machine won't damage anything, it just won't work. The voltage differences are between those, and SDRAM.

Bfonnes
 

bfonnes

Senior member
Aug 10, 2002
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Originally posted by: WarCon
You really need to find out the model number of the motherboard. This probably took SDRAM (before the first speed increase to PC100, it was just called SDRAM). Problem is there was multiple kinds of SDRAM and two voltages(3.3V and 5.0V) during this time. There was fast page mode, EDO, and sychronous SDRAM. Using wrong kind might be catastrophic failure for the memory. That chipset supported all three, but how the manufacturer configured it or used jumpers to set it up is something you will need to know before buying memory.

what is a "might be" catastrophic failure? :p A catastrophic failure that isn't so bad??? I don't get it :( It's just like that mostly dead joke on The Princess Bride. Mostly Catastrophic maybe? :p

Bfonnes
 

WarCon

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Feb 27, 2001
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Using the wrong type of memory may just not work or may cause catastrophic failure. Its usually the voltage difference that is the real problem. So yes catastrophic failure = bad...:)

From spec sheet for this chipset.

"DRAM controller with fast page mode/EDO/Synchronous DRAM support in mixed combinations with 32 bit or 64 bit data bus widths and row and column addressing."

From a Memory guide..

"As operating system Memory demands increased, larger Memory modules were required; yet the motherboard space was even more at a premium. To solve this problem the 168 pin DIMM module ~5.375" X 1" was developed.These are installed singly in later Pentium®s, Pentium® Pro's, and PowerMacs®, and are offered as non-Parity Fast-Page, EDO, ECC, or SDRAM modes, 3.3v or 5v. buffered or unbuffered, and 2-clock or 4-clock. Their capacities are 8Mb, 16Mb, 32Mb, 64Mb and 128Mb. Choosing the right module is very critical, as most machines require specific Types, sizes and upgrade configurations.
The number of black components on a 184-pin DIMM may vary, but they always have 92 pins on the front and 92 pins on the back for a total of 184. 184-pin DIMMs are approximately 5.375" long and 1.375" high, though the heights may vary. While 184-pin DIMMs and 168-pin DIMMs are approximately the same size, 184-pin DIMMs have only one notch within the row of pins."
 

jakobkraft

Golden Member
Jan 21, 2002
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Thanks, the info here has been pretty helpful; one final thing: since I don't imagine CompUSA or any retailer carrying such outdated memory, any idea where I can go online, or elsewhere, to buy a NEW, not used (since it's so old to begin with, I'd rather have some sort of guarantee on it) stick of this sort of old memory.
Oh, and yes, it is a Pentium One processor. I personally was still using a word processor at the time, was pretty computerphobic, my first PC was a PIII so the functionality of her machine is just a mystery to me...

Again, thanks all.
 

Slogun

Platinum Member
Jul 4, 2001
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Mostly for the fun of it I was upgrading the RAM on a couple of older PCs I have around here.
Once you learn what type of RAM you need, you can get it for cheap at eBay.
I recently bought modules of 64mb 72pin simm such as here and
modules of 128-mb pc66 such as here..

OK, I did some googling, this seems to be the actual name of your mobo: VIB804DS, as found here.

And this is the info about the memory it supports:
Memory
- 8MB to 256MB.
- Two 168-pins DIMMs (64bit) and Two 72-pins Standard SIMMs (32bit).
- Fast Page Mode, Extended Data Output (EDO) and Synchronous
RAM (SDRAM).
- SIMMs Depth of 512KB, 1MB, 2MB, 4MB and 8MB.
- DIMMs Depth of 1MB, 2MB, 4MB and 8MB.

So, looks like it takes DIMMs AND SIMMs, quite the dinosaur.

If you want to obtain some additional info on that system and it is able to connect to the internet, you might download and run the belarc advisor utility which you can obtain here. It is from the Crucial memory site which lists it as an aid in finding compatible (new) memory on their site. If there is a big price difference, i wouldn't bother with worrying about getting new memory. New memory that is that old, might actually have skyrocketed in price as it may be scarce.