ram questions

[DireSandMan]

my backround:
-First off i blow when it comes to english, i can't spell to save my life
-My mom bought my me a computer from dell abount 4 years ago
-It had a pentium 4, geforce 3, all that fun stuff
-But a whopping 128 ram.
-There in lies my problem

A friend gave me an extra stick of ram that he had another 128 stick of ram.
Then geting rid of an old computer of ours i found a 256 stick of ram. So i pluged it in to see if it would work. Nope :( So i put it back in and continued with 256 ram. The only differnce between the two sticks of ram is the one that works says "133MHz CL3" and the one that doesnt says "100MHz CL2". Looking on newegg.com one of the catigories of ram is Cas Latency, is this "CL" and is that why it wont work? Or is it the "133MHz" and "100MHz" differnce? Or is it the two?

It would be nice to know why this old stick wont work, but if some one could just tell me what sticks would work that would be fine too.

Thanks ahead of time.

-adam

[CanaBalistic]

well the 133mhz has a slightly faster latency time over the 100mhz. If the 100mhz module would have worked it would have also lowered the speed of your other module. The slower module allways takes precidence over the faster ram module.

You should read up on your motherboard specs and see which ram modules your mobo can take aswell as how many modules your motherboard supports.

You want the fastest ram (higher mhz) you can get. Ram should be fairly cheap for your computer.

[Omega]

CL is indeed CAS Latency, and i don't think that's where the problem lies. your compy probably needs DIMMs or SIMMS, and the 256 you're trying to put in it could be DDR or even possibly DDR2.


However, with that setup, i would just save up about 1.5k then scrap the dell and build your own stuff.

[CanaBalistic]

yeah cause its easyer to save up $1,500 than it is to get the ram you need :) lol

[DireSandMan]

Thanks for the help. But i still have a few questions. How can i tell weather or not the ram i wish to but will work? The only way to look up information on my motherboard and see if it will work?

[UK-Blade]

Try Crucials (http://www.crucial.com) website.

You can search by manufacturer, so if you look up your Dell, it will tell you exactly what type of memory you need.

Hope that helps

[DireSandMan]

i knew you guys were the ones to go to. You guys rock.

Thanks UK-Blade, that was a big help. To bad it says my maximum memory is 512 :( . But get two 256s and im much better off the just two 128s.
Damn dells.

[CanaBalistic]

sounds like its time for a new computer anyway... just somthing to think about

[UK-Blade]

Glad to be of assistance.

You'd better start saving those pennies for an upgrade....