Posted: 2/9/2002 12:37:25 PM EDT
| I've got an older PC with a P6BX-Me motherboard (Intel 440BX chipset). The owners manual says it'll use PC100 or 66 MHz DIMM's. I seem to recall through the fog that back in the day I could use SIMM's that were faster or the same speed as the chips in my box. So... can I use PC133 chips on this Motherboard? Seems like PC133 is always being advertised cheaper than PC100. |
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Actually, my 440BX based machine (Tekram P6B) has 768MB of RAM in it, and at least in theory, will handle up to a gig. Buy your ram from Micron at [url]www.crucial.com[/url] They'll let you enter your motherboard info and supply modules that will work. They also offer free 2nd day shipping, and are pretty price competitive. Buy a single 256, it'll be cheaper than the two 128's anyway. (edit: typo in link.) |
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All 256MB DIMMs are not created equally. Verify with Office Depot who the manufacturer is, and attempt to contact them. Some will NOT work with 440BX based systems. I ran into this problem when those DIMMs first started to hit the market. They were DRASTICALLY cheaper than anything that had come before, but at the time would ONLY function with the current generation VIA chipsets. I just popped the thing into my Athlon based system, so I didn't LOSE anything, but I'm suspecting you don't have that luxury. |
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The company is K-Byte Memory... went to their web site and it is nothing much. I sent an e-mail to their tech folks. What is the down side if I get an incompatible chip? Would it just not boot and so I have to put the old chips back in, or can it damage the motherboard some how? |
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Depends on the DIMM. Some will not show as present (providing 0MB RAM--obviously, not good) while others will report as 64MB or 128MB (depending on your chipset.) None of them will damage your motherboard, and the only thing that would keep you from booting is if the module wasn't recognized at all. |