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RAM quandry...

D

DrD

Junior Member
I just bought a 128Mb branded stick from Aria (www.aria.co.uk). The way these guys work with *branded* memory, you pay your money and then you get whatever they have in stock. You don't get to choose, but it's ridiculously cheap so who's complaining?

Anyway, the stick arrives at the counter and it's Infineon.. great! One of the best!! But uhh.. when I get home I discover it's 8ns PC100, when I asked for PC133. I fired it up in my 100Mhz FSB machine anyway and it works great at 2-2-2, really flys and is *noticebly lush*.. so.. damn.. now I'm in a quandry as to whether to return it or not?

The thing is, I will probably upgrade my processor at some point in the next few months.. perhaps 133Mhz FSB.. perhaps not. I could return the memory now for PC133, but it might be a less well known brand/poor quality. Maybe it will fail to run 2-2-2 at 100Mhz. Maybe this Infineon won't boot at 133Mhz. Maybe it will. Maybe it's so good it will do 133Mhz 2-2-2 anyway. Hmmm!!! Can anyone decipher these pages?

http://www.dibro.co.nz/computer/infineon_benches.html
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-SanJose/7181/memory6.htm
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-SanJose/7181/memory.htm

[Note I think mine is HYB39S64800T-8 C, made in USA]

Well this isn't worth losing sleep over.. I'm just not sure what to do.
 
It's possible that it will boot at PC133, provided it runs at CAS3. Which way will you upgrade? If you grab a current Socket-A motherboard and a Duron/Thunderbird, you will run at 100MHz FSB, so your RAM will be perfectly comfortable. If you wait a few months and go the Socket-A route, there will be DDR motherboards, which will not accept SDR SDRAM, unless there are two types of slots (184pin vs 168pin).

If you buy a P4, you'll have to get RDRAM, because that's the only memory that the P4 motherboards will support.
 
I just got some Kingston PC100 ValueRAM from BUY.COM and it has Infineon Chips which has markings like yours and I just fire it up at 133MHz CAS2. Now keep in mind that the PCB is as important as the the chips.
 
I'm weighing up the pro's and con's and coming to the conclusion.. it's probably not worth the bother exchanging. You are right about upgrades, there are plenty of fine options. And yes I agree the PCB is important.. but it does seem to be good stuff. This one looks nice and thick, so fingers crossed it'll be OK at 133 ;-) Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if I make a profit if I have to upgrade the memory when I change processor.. given the whacky world of inverse memory pricing ;-)

Thanks for the input, chaps.
 
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