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| Thread ID: 115016 | 2010-12-29 03:13:00 | Memory upgrade | MPG (8302) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1165409 | 2010-12-29 03:13:00 | Hi I am thinking of upgrading an old machine of mine for another member of the family. First step I thought would be to increase the amount of RAM but I am confused by the large range of options shown on the Ascent site. I am having problems identifying suitable replacements. The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-8IEXP and the OS is XP SP3. I was hoping to increase the amount of RAM to 2 GB, probably by replacing the current modules (generic?). I have just checked the memory modules with Everest Home Edition. It would appear that I presently have 2 different modules. It reports DIMM1 as containing GC6CD404 - 512MB, unbuffered, DDR SDRAM, PC2700, no error detection. DIMM2 is 512MB, unbuffered, DDR SDRAM, PC2100, no error detection. I guess that means it is non-ECC. The memory timings for both modules @ 166 MHz are 2.5-3-3-7. I would be pleased if someone could make a recommendation for replacements. Thanks in anticipation. Michael |
MPG (8302) | ||
| 1165410 | 2010-12-29 04:36:00 | PC2700 - doesn't really matter what brand oir if they match or not. PC3200 should be backwards compatible too and easy to get. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1165411 | 2010-12-29 06:52:00 | What is it going to be doing where you would see a difference between 1GB and 2GB? | linw (53) | ||
| 1165412 | 2010-12-29 17:11:00 | What CPU does it have? ,seem it is a 845 board that supports 533/400 chips you could get a 3.0 or a 3.2 if you can find one www.mbreview.com Have a oldish Compaq with the 845 board running a 1.8 celeron and replaced with a 2.8 Northwood chip,fair flies now |
Lawrence (2987) | ||
| 1165413 | 2010-12-29 20:01:00 | Thanks all! Now that I have got over my silly mistake concerning DDR and DDR2, I have found some Kingston RAM that looks just the ticket. Linw - don't know the answer to that question. The puter is not for me but I suspect it will not be over taxed - i.e. no games or videos. However, I note that just about every upgrade article I have ever seen nearly always mentions the RAM as the first upgrade to make. Maybe someone has shares in a chip manufacturer ;). I thought I would simply follow advice and make the upgrade while I was making other modifications. Lawrence - thanks for the query and comment. The CPU is in fact a P4 2.45. This old puter was fairly state of the art at the time of purchase. Still works OK and should suit another family member's needs. Thanks again to all! Michael |
MPG (8302) | ||
| 1165414 | 2010-12-29 20:14:00 | MPG, those recommendations for adding extra RAM highly likely apply to machines with 256MB of RAM! XP, for run-of-the-mill software, runs OK with 512MB. 1GB is heaps and will not cause a bottleneck in this system. Let's face it, when XP was born, a gigabyte of RAM was probably not even in mainframes! The best thing you can do is make sure that unnecessary startups are stopped (usually 10-12 can be found in my experience). MSCONFIG will let you control these startups. A 2.4GHz cpu with 1GB RAM will run pretty well with a nice clean setup. Money spent on this machine will not give you a worthwhile return. By far the best upgrade is to a dual cpu but don't know whether that mobo will take one. Cheers and best wishes. |
linw (53) | ||
| 1165415 | 2010-12-30 01:09:00 | It might actually be slower with 2GB if you are running XP! You will gain performance by doing a complete wipe clean of the hard-drive data; followed by reinstalling everything that is needed. | PENTIUM (426) | ||
| 1165416 | 2010-12-30 01:11:00 | It might actually be slower with 2GB if you are running XP! Please elaborate... |
inphinity (7274) | ||
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