Need motherboard historian...

[jakobkraft]

My friend got a fantastically 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)? I have several sticks of old PC-133 SDRAM but I don't want to install it if it doesn't support it...

Any help would be appreciated...

 

[lycurgus]

You have specified the chipset (specifically northbridge), but not the particular model. Many of the mobo's using that chipset appear to have both SIMM's and DIMM's, supporting (most likely) EDO and SDRAM. However, there are issues related to the particular SDRAM. I would suggest that you start by idenifying the specific mobo model.

 

[floccus]

PC133 will not work most likely due to chip density issues. Also, I think PC100 is a little out of the question as well. With the computer having only 16mb of ram, I'm betting this baby is pretty old. That would mean you're limited to going through Crucial most likely, or eBay, to find compatible ram. But then again, we don't know the board so who know.

 

[tcsenter]

PC66 SDRAM modules should work fine in that board. Some first generation PC100 modules that are 100% compatible with i440LX/BX will probably work, also. However, DIMM modules larger than 32MB are most likely not going to work, so you're limited to 32MB or less per DIMM. You can often find used PC66 modules, from time to time I've seen surplus component resellers selling them, new and used.

PC66 SDRAM

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