Upgrade memory for old motherboard

MoJo

Hello hope you nice techie folks can help/advise.

I have an old Supermicro Motherboard for which Crucial has no compatible memory upgrades and, search as I might, I can't find any apart from some likely looking stuff on pcupgrade.

(I've emailed Supermicro but no reply yet)

I guess my first question is whether it is worth upgrading the memory, or would I be better getting a new Motherboard? That way I could keep XP, right?

(it's a custom built pc) (not sure if that helps or not)

Okay, techie bits.
Crucial says I have 168-pin DIMM banking but because it utilises MTH it will not support ECC DIMMS, but ECC RIMMS are supported, but I can't mix DIMMS and RIMMS. It also says I need SDR or SDRAM only and my frequencies are PC66/PC100. (This is clear as mud to me, but I understand the do's and don'ts)

However, it doesn't help me to decide what I can buy.

Would I be ok with a "PC100 SDRAM 168pin SDRAM DIMM" - bleugh! just noticed this says 64Mx64 - does this mean I need 64bit OS?

Okay - if I can't find a 32bit how easy is it to install a 64bit version of my OS? (I'll go away and research this)

Complicated stuff this techie lark innit?

I think I'll stop there - you must be getting bored and might even just tell me to get myself an up-to-date pc!

If you can help at all - thanks :beer:

tomsolomon

Cor blimey mate, and you said all that without a breath, lol.
Thats some realy old stuff you got there. PC100 100Mhz Sdram is fine but you will have to buy second hand.

I would'nt worry too much about ECC, and the Rimms are way too expensive to justify installing into a low end system. For every day activities the normal stuff will surfice.
Oh and the MX64 I think is something to do with memory bandwidth but not sure (someone will put me right though lol)
However, depending on what your doing with your PC, it might be worth upgrading you MOBO, or if its doing what your needing it to do, a little extra memory can make a big difference.

mdbarber

Probably best to post the model number off the mainboard but essentially the x64 is a size measurement of the chips on the dimm and your mainboard may be finicky about that.
Unf. but pc100 sdram dimms ttah work will generally be more expensive i would trust kingston but not many others on this one

tom9980

To be honest i wouldnt spend any money on your current setup your at the stage where you need to start again from scratch, its new PC time or keep with what you have and start saving.

MoJo

Thanks to all for the replies. I just knew someone would say I need a new pc Thing is, I likes what I've got, it's just too slow. I guess I should have plonked more memory in sooner - much sooner!

mdbarber wrote: »

Probably best to post the model number off the mainboard but essentially the x64 is a size measurement of the chips on the dimm and your mainboard may be finicky about that.
Unf. but pc100 sdram dimms ttah work will generally be more expensive i would trust kingston but not many others on this one

Ta - will go find kingston.

The Model is Supermicro SUPER PIIISCA
Chipset is Intel 820

isofa

Try Blue_Anteater on eBay, a good RAM trader/shop.

BillScarab

What size modules are you after? I have a selection of old memory sticks I don't need, I've got 3 64Mb sticks of PC100 you can have and a 128Mb stick which I think is PC100. If they're any good to you you're welcome to them.

BTW I've no idea if they still work but you're welcome ot ry them.

cowbutt

MoJo wrote: »

Thanks to all for the replies. I just knew someone would say I need a new pc Thing is, I likes what I've got, it's just too slow. I guess I should have plonked more memory in sooner - much sooner!



Ta - will go find kingston.

The Model is Supermicro SUPER PIIISCA
Chipset is Intel 820

I can't remember the precise details, but some (maybe all) i820-based motherboards have a bug in the Memory Translator Hub (MTH) that causes machines to reboot and crash when used PC66/PC100 SDRAM (more details: http://www.computerwriter.com/Star/2000/jun/cw062100_intel_i820_mth_recall.htm).

As a result, RIMMs are the only guaranteed-safe memory modules to use. Unfortunately, as they are proprietary to Rambus Corp., they will be expensive. By the time you've found and paid for them, you're probably better-off upgrading.

cowbutt

tomsolomon wrote: »

Cor blimey mate, and you said all that without a breath, lol.
Thats some realy old stuff you got there. PC100 100Mhz Sdram is fine but you will have to buy second hand.

Not on an i820-based system with a MTH, they aren't!

MoJo

cowbutt wrote: »

I can't remember the precise details, but some (maybe all) i820-based motherboards have a bug in the Memory Translator Hub (MTH) that causes machines to reboot and crash when used PC66/PC100 SDRAM (more details: http://www.computerwriter.com/Star/2000/jun/cw062100_intel_i820_mth_recall.htm).

As a result, RIMMs are the only guaranteed-safe memory modules to use. Unfortunately, as they are proprietary to Rambus Corp., they will be expensive. By the time you've found and paid for them, you're probably better-off upgrading.

Bleugh!

I wonder how important the i is? It also refers to product shipped in 1999/2000 and mine is older than that. But that's no guarentee it's not affected.

Guess I'm going to have to give the moths in my purse an airing either way...

100pints

I have an old Compaq workstation which I still use - it takes PC100 but ONLY ECC (as I found out eventually!) So I have a few sticks of RAM (64 / 128 / 256Mb) which I can send. I run XP and now have 512MB and it runs great.
PM me with your details if you like and I'll send you some.
:beer: