RDRAM.....what to buy?

[GladiatorPotato]

I just bought a Dell 8200 Dimension desktop. I took the baseline, or close to baseline, approach for most of the options unless there was a significant savings with a factory install. I opted for only 256MB RDRAM to start. Certainly PLENTY memory to get the ball rolling, but I would like to bump it up to 512MB if not 1GB soon. I've been shopping around and reading reviews trying to decide where to buy it from, and by what manufacturer. Does anyone have any recommendations or warnings? I'm not too tight with the cash. Just like the next guy, I want to get my money's worth - quality, dependability and a sound warranty in case I encounter problems. If that means paying a premium - no problem. But I don't need "top of the line" just so I can say I've got it. Know what I mean?

 

[Borked]

I like Kingston, they are not top of the line and mine are actually made by Samsung, but I get a nice fuzzy feeling knowing that Kingston offers a lifetime warranty.

Right now I have 768 megs of RDRAM (all branded Kingston) that I bought to replace the 128 megs that came with my 8100. I've used Kingston in the past and never had any problems with them.

Others of course will have their own opinions and experiences.

 

[KenAF]

It's best to get Samsung RDRAM, as all Samsung produced in the past few months will do at least PC1066 speeds, and some of it will do PC1200 speeds. The Kingston RDRAM doesn't clock nearly as high.

If you want a warranty, get Corsair. Corsair is just Samsung with a warranty.

 

[GladiatorPotato]

Thanks for the info - these are the kinds of opinions I'm looking for. As far as Samsung/Corsair clocking at PC1066 or PC1200, how will I know? I'm new to some of this, but a quick study.

 

[KenAF]

Gladiator,

As long as the Samsung chips on your RDRAM were produced in the past six months, you should have no trouble running PC1066. The average Samsung module seems to max out at between PC1120 and PC1140, with some hitting just PC1100 and some hitting as high as PC1200 or PC1220. Obviously you won't know how high your memory can go until its in your Asus P4T-E (must be configured with DIP switches on mainboard to hit 533+) or modified Abit TH7-II.

 

[GladiatorPotato]

Ken -

"until its in your Asus P4T-E (must be configured with DIP switches on mainboard to hit 533+) or modified Abit TH7-II."

Yikes. Ok. I'm not too proud to admit that's beyond me. Can you suggest a resource I can utilize to give myself a clue? I can't expect you, or anyone else for that matter, to take the time to explain all this to me and bring me up to speed. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the info. Obviously it's time for me to tackle the learning curve.

 

[Athlon4all]

It won't matter to hit weather he gets RDRAM that can hit 533fsb because Dell's prolly even if it's a P4T-E at hear, removed any kind of ocing hopes, but as for What RDRAM? I agree, Samsung/Corsair.

 

[Amused]

GladiatorPotato,

How many slots are filled with memory on your mother board? Did Dell use 2 256MB sticks? Or 4 64 MB sticks?

This is important to know. If it's 4 64 MB sticks, you'll have to toss away at least 2 of them to upgrade.

If you want to upgrade to 1GB, you'll have to toss away (or sell) all of the memory Dell installed, and buy 4 256 MB sticks. Or you can toss away 2 and buy 2 512MB sticks, but 512 sticks are very expensive. Samsung 512MB sticks are going for $250 and up. Not worth it IMHO.

I agree that Samsung is good memory. It can be had for $77 per 256MB stick at googlegear.com

Ignore the overclocking ideas here. Dells are virtually impossible to overclock.

 

[GladiatorPotato]

Athlon4all - I'm sorry, I didn't entirely follow what you meant.

AmusedOne - I've got 4 slots, 2 filled. So it's got to be 2 128MB. My intent is to first drop in two 256MB, then later swap out the two original 128MB for another two 256MB. You're right, there is quite a price jump between 256MB and 512MB. Ideally, filling all four slots with 512MB would be nifty. But here's something I've wondered: I've got a P4, 1.8GHz with 400MHz bus speed. Isn't there a point where you can have too much memory to manage? As far as overclocking - thanks for the input. I'm certainly not to the point where I would have any confidence attempting to alter my hardware to that degree. Not just yet. Too much to learn. But it's good to know for future reference. As long as I'm at it, I think I have the basic understanding of overclocking, but could you give me the overview? Or point me towards a link?

 

[Amused]

<< Athlon4all - I'm sorry, I didn't entirely follow what you meant.

AmusedOne - I've got 4 slots, 2 filled. So it's got to be 2 128MB. My intent is to first drop in two 256MB, then later swap out the two original 128MB for another two 256MB. You're right, there is quite a price jump between 256MB and 512MB. Ideally, filling all four slots with 512MB would be nifty. But here's something I've wondered: I've got a P4, 1.8GHz with 400MHz bus speed. Isn't there a point where you can have too much memory to manage? As far as overclocking - thanks for the input. I'm certainly not to the point where I would have any confidence attempting to alter my hardware to that degree. Not just yet. Too much to learn. But it's good to know for future reference. As long as I'm at it, I think I have the basic understanding of overclocking, but could you give me the overview? Or point me towards a link? >>



I don't have any links handy, but a quick overview of overclocking goes like this:

Multipliers on processors are locked, therefore the only way to run them higher than that locked speed is to up the front side bus (FSB) speed. The FSB speed times the multiplier of your processor equals the speed the processor will run at. Your FSB is 100. (It is then quad pumped to 400, but for clock settings, it's 100). Your processor has a multiplier of 18. (a 2GHz would have a multiplier of 20) Therefore, 18x100 = 1800. If you were to increase your FSB to 115, your processor would then run at 2070 (18x115=2070). There are other variables, like increasing the voltage the processor runs on to make it stable (higher clock speeds require higher voltages) and fiddling with FSB ratios. But that's the quick overview of it.

Dell computers disable any overclocking ability on their computers. Overclocking is usually done through the BIOS, or with dipswtiches on the motherboard. Dell removes these features.

I can't think of anything a home computer would be doing to need more than 1GB of RAM right now. In fact, just adding 2 256MB sticks (768 total in your machine) will probably be all you'll need for quite some time. 2GB is overkill. I'd spend that money elsewhere. If you insist on 1GB of RAM or more, I suggest using error correction control (ECC) memory. But only if your Dell accepts it.

As SiSoft suggests: "Large memory systems (1GB or greater) should be ECC/Parity. Since the probability that a bit will be corrupt is the same or increases with module density, the bigger the module, the bigger the overall probability that you will get one or more corrupted bits. While these modules add an extra delay on partial writes (e.g. less than data width) as parity for the whole line must be re-calculated, the stability will be worth it."

Hope this helps

 

[ToBeMe]

Samsung is about the best way to go..........it COMES with a lifetime WARRANTY.............

 

[novagamer]

<< Gladiator, As long as the Samsung chips on your RDRAM were produced in the past six months, you should have no trouble running PC1066. The average Samsung module seems to max out at between PC1120 and PC1140, with some hitting just PC1100 and some hitting as high as PC1200 or PC1220. Obviously you won't know how high your memory can go until its in your Asus P4T-E (must be configured with DIP switches on mainboard to hit 533+) or modified Abit TH7-II. >>



Whoa there Mind explaining your basis for this? I've got 2 systems on a P4T-E and I'm wondering what advantages the DIPs have over the softbios?
You made me stop lurking for this

Nova

 

[KenAF]

novamer,

I explained it a bit more in this thread...

Basically, when you configure the P4T-E through the bios (regardless of what it or the manual says), you are stuck with a 3/4 AGP and PCI/3 dividers. That means whenever you try to overclock the memory to 133x4=533FSB, you are running you PCI bus at 44MHz and your AGP bus at 100MHz. The default speed for PCI is 33MHz and the default for the AGP bus is 66MHz; when you run it that far out of specification, many AGP graphics or PCI cards won't work or won't run stable. As a result, you get errors in Windows or crashes.

By using the mainboard DIP switches (and you need to download the standard P4T manual from Asus' site to find out what they are), you have access to 1/2 AGP and 1/4 PCI dividers when running the memory at full speed. Thus, when using the mainboard DIP switches, you can run 133x4=533FSB, while the AGP is still clocked at its default 66MHz and PCI is clocked at its default 33MHz. Thus, PCI boards and AGP cards work as they are supposed to...and you can attain stability at much higher memory speeds (for significantly greater performance). Using the mainboard DIP switches, you can access up to 150MHz FSB to run memory at up to PC1200 speed.

The only disadvantage in using the mainboard DIP switches is that you lose access to the cpu voltage options available through the bios (they won't have any effect). Without the voltage adjustment, many people have difficulty running the 1.6A at 2400; however, there are some that can run the 1.6A at 2400 with PC1200 DDR memory abd default voltage--those systems undoubtedly kick butt. Hopefully, at some point, Asus will release an updated bios that adds access to both the 1/2 AGP and 1/4 PCI dividers. Some have theorized that Asus is waiting until May to release such a bios.

Until then, the only hope for adjusting both the new AGP and PCI dividers and voltage (as necessary for the higher overclocks) at the same time is through the use of CPUFSB, while using the bios (nand ot DIP switches--not sure of this) configuration for FSB. Some have had success with this program, while others have not.

 

[novagamer]

KenAF,

Thanks for the Reply, almost 5 minutes after my post I found the topic at the hardforums, which also gave a link to this thread, which says about the same thing. One of my P4Te's overclocks REALLY nicely, and I think it has the good clockgens, while the other (mine, of course ) won't go over 112fsb, even with high quality ram. I'll have to give cpuFSB a go, I have hopes that I may be able to hit 2ghz with my father's 1.5