RAM Spec

phonecian · Rated PG Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

I have to increase the ram in an old IBM PII 500mhz Netfinity 3000. I know it requires SDRAM PC 100 ECC ram. I don't know if it should be registered ram or not.
What is registered ram? Is it a hardware compatability issue or an OS one? The machine runs Debian Linux.
Thanks for help.
Regards

knight0334 · Posted: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 01:51:56 Post Subject:

You need to visually inspect the existing RAM to see if it has a small additional chip near the center of the DIM. ...You cant mix registered and nonregistered RAM. Most systems that take registered RAM will also take nonregistered in only the first couple DIMM slots.

Registered RAM is a buffered type memory. There are additional chips on the DIMM to allow for greater memory density. These chips add increased latency too, but provide stability for additional addressed memory. Usually they are only used in servers where 4 or more DIMM slots are used(or available).

More than likely, you have a Pentium III instead of a Pentium II(probable type). Pentium II's stopped at 450mhz.

phonecian · Rated PG Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 2

Thanks Knight
Thats a helpful answer
Best Regards

BeerCheeze · Posted: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:24:23 Post Subject:

I also believe most if not all ECC ram is registered.

knight0334 · Posted: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:33:53 Post Subject:

Most is, but there are some ECC only sticks and applications out there. ...kinda rare though