What pin memory do I need ?

[BADGER.BRAD]

Hello All,
My aging PC went bang the other day so out came my even older PC with only 256 meg of ram 1.6 GHz single core processor, as I run a version of Linux which is set up to use low system resources ( Lubuntu) the thing works in a reasonable manner but I intend to look for some cheap Ram in order to help it out a bit. I've looked at the installed ram (I have 3 slots only one in use) and this is what it says SDRAM PC133 32x64 PC133 I understand most of that but as two different number of pin memory is advertised on flea bay I'm at a bit of a loss as to which pin type I need.

Any help would be much appreciated

Brad

 

[MrJamie]

I think 168 was the desktop version and there was a squarer type for laptops. It probably wouldnt cost that much to get a decent enough mobo/cpu/ram bundle though

 

[HovR]

If you want to be sure, take 'em out and count the pins.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Just to add more confusion what this non ecc business ? When I count the pins am I counting the pins on the board connector or all the pins on all the chips ?

 

[ian turner]

go to crucial , if you know the make and model of the pc use the memory advisor to find suitable ram. If you don't know the details select the system scanner tab and hope it woirks on linux.
You won't need ecc ram. Laptop memory is sodimms not dimms.
Buy the stuff from crucial rather than fleabay as you don't seem very confident and will probably pick the wrong devices.

 

[HovR]

You're counting all of the copper/gold-ish coloured pins on a single RAM chip - Both sides.

ECC or non-ECC describes whether or not your chip has error-checking and correcting ability. It's best to stick with what you already have in your computer.

 

[HovR]

go to crucial , if you know the make and model of the pc use the memory advisor to find suitable ram. If you don't know the details select the system scanner tab and hope it woirks on linux.
You won't need ecc ram. Laptop memory is sodimms not dimms.
Buy the stuff from crucial rather than fleabay as you don't seem very confident and will probably pick the wrong devices.

In my experience, Crucial's information - And even it's detection software - is often wrong. In the times I've used it before, it's recommended incorrect types of RAM, even going as far as to have a completely wrong pin count or configuration.

I personally always look at the information on the current RAM chips, and buy an exact duplicate (except for the capacity, obviously).

 

[MrJamie]

Id probably just buy 1-2 of these and put them in the other two slots http://www.scan.co.uk/products/256mb-major-sdram-pc133-(133)-168-pin-non-ecc-unbuffered Theres a 512mb version too, but id wonder how much ram your board could support and if youd get any benefit anyway.

 

[ian turner]

In my experience it's always been right.
Whose opinion do you pick ?
If you buy ram without determining what the limits are of the motherboard then it might not work.
Odds are against your pc supporting ecc ram
You don't need to count the pins as its 168 if its a desktop and 144 if it';s a laptop and the former are dimms, the latter sodimms
Do you know the make and model of the pc or motherboard ?
If you can afford £150 and are happy with linux then zoostorm do cheap desktops without an os installed