questions about 128 mb ram specs

[Wuming]

thinking of getting a new 128 mb ram. would like to get hold of a micron but right now the only cheap one seems to be this

128MB 16MX64 PC133 SDRAM 133MHz Non ECC DIMM CL3 $49.95 After Rebate

what does the CL3 mean? and is 7.5 ns good enough a seek/access time? finally how do i know what cas is this ram?

:frown:

 

[AndyHui]

Double sided RAM, ie total of 16 chips, 8 on each side, as given by 16 X 64M.
CL3 means a CAS Latency of 3, aka CAS3. Performance is a bit slower than CL2, or CAS2.
7.5ns is not a seek time, but the rating of the chips. 7.5ns means that the chip is rated for a maximum operating speed of 133MHz. You might be able to get more speed out of it, but....

Anyway, what you have there is pretty ordinary stuff.

 

[Wuming]

thanks! do you have anything to recommend then?

 

[xtreme2k]

I think that is fine, good price also.

 

[Wuming]

btw is there any way to find out what CAS is my sdram inside my computer now?

 

[xtreme2k]

You can look at the ram physically and look for numbers like 333 or 322 or 232 or 222 on the RAM chips itself (not all RAM has this though)
The First Digit is the CAS Lantency.

Or you can download Sisoft Sandra and go into the Motherboard Module and it will read the internal SDRAM specification for you.

 

[AndyHui]

There are programs that will read the contents of the SPD on your SDRAM, although the contents are not necessarily accurate. I have heard that certain brands will have a CAS of 3, even though they are capable of CAS2. Usually if you set your BIOS to auto for the SDRAM timings, it will show the CAS as specified in the SPD.

There's a program called CT'SPD, although I can't find a link at the moment.

 

[Wuming]

gee.. thanks guys!