Wald wrote in message . 127.12...

I was planning to order chips from Kingston (www.kingston.com),
since the majority of the machines already have Kingston chips,
but I'm a bit concerned for compatibility.

- will these guys deliver me the right kind of chip for each
machine? Anyone experiences with Kingston regarding this?

- some machines have non-Kingston chips (usually 1x64MB). Will it
work if I put an extra Kingston chip in those? Or should I go for
one brand per machine?

I've had very few problems using different brand memory modules and
modules with different brand chips on them, but I wouldn't buy
Kingston modules except locally from a dealer that gives 100% refunds
because I've had compatibility problems more recent Kingston ValueRAM,
and Kingston hasn't been able to explain why, and they've provided
contradictory information.

About six months ago, I bought some Kingston ValueRAM from OfficeMax.
It had two different labels on it, KVR-PC2100DDR/256 and
266X64C25/256, assembled in USA, and it worked fine when I tested it
with both www.memtest86.com and www.goldmemory.cz. But a month later
I bought another module, also from OfficeMax, labelled
KVR-PC2100DDR/256 and PC2100DDR/256 and assembled in China, and it
failed GoldMemory in a few minutes and MemTest86 in 3-5 hours, the
same bit in every bad location. I tried another one of these modules,
and it also failed, but in different locations and with different
bits. I tried all sorts of BIOS settings with both modules, but the
only thing that eliminated all the errors was slowing the memory bus
speed from 266MHz down to 200 MHz. Kingston told me that the latter
part was a) exactly the same as the former, or b)slightly different
than the former and not made for my mobos (ECS K7S5A and P4S5A), and
they offered to exchange it for the former. I didn't feel like paying
to ship something that was free after rebate, so I just got a refund
from OfficeMax. A week ago, I bought yet more Kingston ValueRAM from
OfficeMax, again labelled KVR-PC2100DDR/256 and PC2100DDR/256 but
assembled in USA, and it worked OK with the K7S5A, but with the P4S5A
the default BIOS memory speed setting of "FAST" had to be changed to
"NORMAL" or "SLOW" to prevent errors. Again, Kingston offered to
replace the memory, but their tech support spoke only in generalities
and couldn't explain the problem.

With all three types of these memory modules, the circuit boards
seemed to be 100% identical, but I don't know about the chips because
they had no manufacturer markings, only "32M x 8 DDR 7-1", and I think
they come from different manufacturers since the print looks slightly
different for each.

It's important to run any memory diagnostic for several hours because
the second Kingston module from the second purchase tested fine for
the first few hours. Also run more than one diagnostic because
GoldMemory found errors very quickly with my earlier modules while
MemTest86 took forever to find any, but for my last memory module,
GoldMemory passed it, even with faster BIOS settings, while MemTest86
consistently found bad bits at even the default settings.

The only other DDR memory I've bought recently has been K-Byte/RK-Byte
and cheap Fry's Electronics no-name stuff, and except for an early
K-Byte module containing Spectec chips (Micron's brand for second-rate
and used chips), it's all worked perfectly. So I'd say that Kingston
can't complain about my mobos being very particular about their
memory. BTW, the K-byte modules with Elixir chips (Nanya's
second-rate brand) seemed to be underrated the most and tested fine
except when I set all the BIOS timings at their fastest settings (BIOS
limited to clock to 266 MHz max.). With all the memory I've bought,
the only modules that have never given me problems were those with
chips labelled with the chip maker's primary brand (i.e., Micron, not
Spectec for Micron).

It's important to buy from a good dealer. OfficeMax was always very
accommodating with my purchases, even when they gave all my money
back. But if you buy from CompUSA, expect to pay a 15% restocking fee
for opened merchandise, even if every module you get from them is
defective, and also expect them to claim that nothing is wrong because
it passes their cheap memory tester. I've found that CompUSA will try
to charge the 15% even if you didn't open the box -- they are not a
very honest company.