Which Memory?

frostie wrote:
....
Is there a little utility or something on XP Pro, that I am missing, that
will tell me this information or tell me the make/model of motherboard so I
can find it myself without having to take the box to bits?

No, AFAIR there is no tool within WinXP, you have to use third party
software like Sandra or Aida32.

Roy

Try Belarc Advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

"frostie" wrote in message
...
Just wondered if there was a way to find out which memory my motherboard
uses, and will require for an upgrade. All I know is there is 256Mb at the
moment using only 1 of the 4 slots. However, nowadays there are so many
different types, I just wondered if there was anyway of finding out which
I
require.
My PC has Intel P4 2Ghz and is about 16 months old if thats any help.

SDR, RDRAM, DDR 2100, DDR 3000 etc etc etc ??????

Is there a little utility or something on XP Pro, that I am missing, that
will tell me this information or tell me the make/model of motherboard so
I
can find it myself without having to take the box to bits?

TIA

As the previous posters have suggested, a third-party utility such as
Sisoft Sandra (free download, great utility to have) will provide you
with a lot of info on your mobo and your memory:

http://www.sisoftware.co.uk

Do you happen to have the user's manual for the mobo? That would be the
first place I'd look...your P4 system can use any of the following types
of RAM: PC133 (aka SDRAM), PC2100 (aka DDR), PC800 (RDRAM or RAMBUS), or
PC1066 (faster RDRAM or RAMBUS). It gets even more complicated on the
RAMBUS types: 40ns, 45ns, 16-bit, 32-bit, etc.

The fact that you have only 1 256MB stick installed tells me that you
have either PC133 SDRAM or PC2100 DDR RAM in use. RAMBUS sticks must be
installed in pairs on a P4 system (you'd have to have two 128MB sticks
installed to have 256MB total or four 64MB sticks installed which you
don't).

Once you run find out what type of memory your system uses, I'd suggest
trying to stick with the exact same type, different vendors is usually
ok but take a look inside your system at your existing 256MB "stick".
Count the number of individual chips on the memory board (are there
chips on one side or both sides of the memory board). See if you get the
P/N and the vendor name off the stick (undo the latches and remove it
from the system, put it in a static bag, and take it with you to your
local shop).

Just to save you from a possible headache, I just upgraded two of my
systems (one has an Asus P4T-E mobo using PC800 RDRAM or RAMBUS memory
and another an Asus P4XP-X mobo using PC2100 DDR RAM) each with an
additional 512MB of RAM.

In my RAMBUS setup, I bought two additional 256MB sticks of PC800 (40
ns) memory. The first thing I noticed was the chip count on these new
"sticks". They have 8 DRAMs mounted on one side of the memory board
(referred to as single or one-sided) and none on the other side. My
existing PC800 (45ns) sticks have 16 DRAMS total with 8 DRAMs mounted on
each side (under some metal covering referred to as a heat spreader).
The 40ns and 45ns specs are access time ratings but are suppose to be
compatible with each other. For some reason my system would not boot
when I tried to mix both old and new sticks. If I removed my older
sticks and installed just the newer ones, the system booted up fine.
Same vendor (Samsung) on both old and new, just different number of DRAM
chips on the memory boards, different P/N, and the newer sticks having a
slightly faster access time rating. This should have worked as others on
this board have attested to as well as several of my co-workers (but it
didn't for me!) So I ended up having to return the newer sticks to where
I bought them and mail order some older 256MB PC800 Samsungs (this time
the exact same type and P/N albeit a tad more expensive) and I've had no
problems.

I ran into the same problem on my wife's setup that uses PC2100 DDR RAM.
The existing 512MB PC2100 stick was purchased from Crucial.com when I
initially put the system together. I bought an additional 512MB PC2100
stick, also made by Crucial, through a local retailer having the same
damn P/N (CT6464265) but having a different number of DRAM chips!! On
this system, it would not even POST with the newer stick, just constant
beeping (same deal here, this stick having only 8 DRAMs on one side of
the memory board, none on the other; this is also known as high
density). I had to order another stick through Crucial, this time
getting one with 16 DRAMs, 8 DRAMs on each side, and no problems. This
is another example of "it should have worked" or "these sticks should be
compatible", yada, yada, but it didn't work for me. These two particular
Asus mobos seem to be picky as to what type of RAM will work. I've run
into this with several of my IBM Thinkpad laptops in the past...

Not trying to scare you here, memory upgrades are usually a no-brainer.
Just make sure you know EXACTLY what you have in your system before you
do anything, read through your mobo user's manual if possible, find out
who has your memory in stock (local retailers are usually easier to deal
with in case you need to return for whatever reason), make sure that in
the event of in-compatibility that they will allow for a FULL RETURN
without any fees or penalty, and you should be fine...

Good luck,

Larry


frostie wrote:
Just wondered if there was a way to find out which memory my motherboard
uses, and will require for an upgrade. All I know is there is 256Mb at the
moment using only 1 of the 4 slots. However, nowadays there are so many
different types, I just wondered if there was anyway of finding out which I
require.
My PC has Intel P4 2Ghz and is about 16 months old if thats any help.

SDR, RDRAM, DDR 2100, DDR 3000 etc etc etc ??????

Is there a little utility or something on XP Pro, that I am missing, that
will tell me this information or tell me the make/model of motherboard so I
can find it myself without having to take the box to bits?

TIA

You could also have other types of DDR RAM in use (not just PC2100,
sorry about that!): PC2700, PC3200, etc. Kept thinking about my wife's
PC2100 setup!!!

frostie wrote:

Just wondered if there was a way to find out which memory my motherboard
uses, and will require for an upgrade. All I know is there is 256Mb at the
moment using only 1 of the 4 slots. However, nowadays there are so many
different types, I just wondered if there was anyway of finding out which I
require.
My PC has Intel P4 2Ghz and is about 16 months old if thats any help.

SDR, RDRAM, DDR 2100, DDR 3000 etc etc etc ??????

Is there a little utility or something on XP Pro, that I am missing, that
will tell me this information or tell me the make/model of motherboard so I
can find it myself without having to take the box to bits?

TIA