106rallye

What is going on with the price of memory! I was thinking about upgrading my computer and could not believe how cheap memory was getting. Is it going to get cheaper or suddenly get hugely expensive like it did last time?

AllanB

Yeah RAM prices are crazy at the moment. Must be the cheapest I can rember and I've been in IT sales for 13 years now. I think there is now a case of over supply. Paid £37 for a PC133 256Mb DIMM for my G4 cube !! I'd be suprised if the prices stay so lo for long so if you're thinking of upgrading , I'd do it now .


AllanB

106rallye

Think it would be rude not to at these prices! where did you get the memory for £37? wasn't it over £300 at one point?

AndrewW

Guys,

Can you please supply URLs or company names where you saw these prices. The best I could find was £103 for a PC133 256Mb DIMM.

Thanks,

Andrew.

ChrisB

DazV

Yeah, which companies are selling for that price ?

simon_prickett

106rallye

Dream Weaver

Also try

Dream Weaver

I have decided to purchase some more RAM as it is this cheap but now the problem. I built my system 18 months ago, and cant remember what type of RAM we put in - SDRAM, DIMM, SIMM, PC133, or PC100?

Can anyone explain which I may need?

The slots I have the memory in are the long slots - I know DIMM is Dual Inline, and SIMM is Single Inline - Can I only put SIMM into the long slots, or will there be any smaller slots elsewhere on the board?

I have a SOYO motherboard. Also which speed do I need? PC100 or PC133?? CPU is PIII 450

DavidRB

DW: Take out the old one and count the pins! SIMMs are 72 pins, DIMMS are 168pins.

I would be pretty certain that you're running DIMMS as it's a P3 board, SIMMs are older technology.

PC100 and PC133 is simply the maximum rated board speed for the RAM. PC133 will run happily on a 100MHz board, but PC100 might not cope on a 133MHz board.

You're on a 100MHz board, so all you <I>need</I> is PC100, but at the moment, some PC133 memory is cheaper than the PC100 equivalent. It's also a little more future-proof if you plan to buy one of the newer P3 boards in the future.

You could also try the

106rallye

At a guess you will need 168 pin dimms. Some motherboards support both but it is getting harder to get hold of the smaller simms now(72 pin). On a normal Pentium III (i.e not Xeon)you will not get any advantages from PC133 but it will run anyway and its usually similar in price. Check you have a free memory slot though as boards have different amounts of slots available but you can sometimes trade in old memory anyway. Hope this helps (and its right!!!)
Good luck
Andy

robski

There can be advantages in buying overspec RAM. Its more overclocking friendly (see other post). The other advantage is you may be able to run at faster memory speeds, you may have CAS and RAS settings in your BIOS.

If you buy PC133 then you may be able to reduce the CAS to a lower value. The CAS delay is in nano-seconds, its a delay that the processor waits until it expects the memory to return what it has asked for. Will only make a real world difference if you are using memory intensive programs.

robski

Dream Weaver

Thanks Chaps

106Rallye

I think I have 3 slots free - I recently opened it up to install a new A drive, and remembered to have a look at the memory. The 64mb I have installed was long and thin and had 8 chips on it. Presumably 8mb for each chip. If the 168pin modules are the longer ones then thats what I have.

I think I will go for the 256mb 168pin PC133 Dimms - Sound about right? If it is SDRAM does this mean I will receive 2 modules that have to run next to each other?? Can I install it with my current 64mb??

Dream Weaver

Fellas

Just found this re my motherboard:

DavidRB

DW: You should be able to have 1,2,3 or 4 DIMMs with 32, 64, 128 or 256Mb each!

ECC is just more expensive stuff and only really useful on 24/7 servers. For home systems, it's overkill, you'll be fine with non-ECC RAM.

16Mx8/16Mx4 refers to how the arrangement of memory modules on the DIMM. It's not something I've ever had to worry about, but I would check that the RAM you're buying really is 16Mx8/16Mx4 and not something like 32Mx8.

I'd also take a look

boomer

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by AllanB:
<B>Paid £37 for a PC133 256Mb DIMM for my G4 cube !![/quote]

AllanB,

what do you think about the G4 Cube? I know that it isn't very expandable, but i do like the idea of no noisy fans whirring away. What screen you you have? Is the 15inch TFT good enough (the widescreen one is a bit pricey!)?

mb

106rallye

DW - you can get 256Mb on one module you can leave the other 64 meg chip in! As far as the Dabs site goes I think both of the 256Mb modules will do as the only difference is one is CAS2 and the other is CAS3. This is to do with latancy(the time taken for the memory to respond) Looks like your board can probably support both

Check out this link

AllanB

106 Ralleye, I got thge RAM from where I work, MicroWarehouse,

boomer

AllanB,

Mmmm, they just dropped the price of the basic Cube 450Mhz, 64MB, 20GB to GBP999 (plus another substantial wadge for a 15"TFT).

Mite wait for Mac OS X though?

mb

AllanB

Boomer, I paid around £620 + VAT for mine whihc was a B stokc cube, Cusotmer order it then chnaged his mind. Can't sell them once they've been used so the get offered to staff at knock down prices. We have to bid for them though so you can get stuff cheap or have to slug it out if you really way a bit of kit. If you want a new one let me know and I;ve be able to save you a few quid. I'd advise hanging on for a couple of weeks for the next keynote speech from Apple. Might affect the prices a bit.


AllanB

boomer

AlanB,

sounds even more tempting, but i agree to wait a little as lots-is-a-happenin at Apple and prices might fall further (damn, i since found the the 999 was PLUS VAT).

Just to let you know that i can't get to

AllanB

I'll try and keep you updated as I hear more news. I'll let our e-commerce manager know about the site tomorrow. Thanks for letting me know.


AllanB

ptholt

I just ordered 128meg of ram for my compaq armada laptop for £45!!

got it from

ChrisB

Boomer,

See

AllanB

Phil I'd like ot know more about this problems as thats not on. I'm one of the sales manager at MicroWarehouse and it sounds like you've been treated very badly and would like to know more if thats OK with you.


AllanB

ptholt

Hi Allan,

i dunno where you got from phil from ?

(Its peter).

but have emailed you off list to the addy in your profile

Ga22ar

Try

ptholt

Or alternatively try