[s37d]

Hi, I have an older computer that I'm trying to get some new ram for and I'd like some help on figuring out what kind of ram I need.

The compter is from around 2003 and is a Dell. The computer says it has 128 mb of ram from my computer. When I looked inside, I saw that it had 4 ram slots, all filled. 2 of the slots were each filled with a stick of 64 mb Samsung memory, not sure what kind. Each stick was identical, and had what looked like an equal number of connectors/pins on each side.

These two sticks would account for the 128 mb of ram, but the thing is, there were 2 more sticks. These were of course the same # of pins/connetors as the Samsung, since all 4 mobo ram slots are the same. They were different brand and look, though. These sticks were goldish colored and and were not Samsung, but rather Dell, and a bit smaller in height than the Samsungs. They had nothing on them indicating size or type, just an assortment of random numbers.

Can anyone help make sense of this? Thanks

[atomic tofu]

just seems someone added stuff in that wasn't the basic setup

dl apps like siw, cpuz...they'll tell you what's in your system
you could do the above...or just look up the model and specs if they still have them online

[s37d]

I did some research with the part #'s I wrote down and found out some more info. I guess the two Dell sticks were continuity modules, or CRIMMs. RDRAM motherboards apparently require all the empty ram slots to be taken up by these CRIMMs in order for the board to function.

The other 2 Samsung sticks had part #'s on them so I was able to do a search and identify them as Samsung 800-45's, which is PC800 RAMBUS memory. Just gotta go find some sticks on ebay. I'll stay with PC800 just in case the motherboard can't handle higher than that.

Looking on ebay, it's surprising to see how expensive rambus memory is...the Buy It Now auctions are at $100 for 1gb...much higher than even newer DDR2 sticks.

[desktop]

Hi, s37d. At one time I had this same problem and I ended up downloading Everest Ultimate Edition, which will list every little jot and tittle about your system. You can get the trial version here.

[s37d]

K thanks I'll hold onto that for future reference.

[rockaway]

s37d as per my understanding you go for upgrading your other two slots which show you 128 MB RAM. As you said it is 2003 maid you must be having SDRAM search in market for these RAM these will be more cheaper than RAMBUS Memory.