Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.fic (
More info?)
Hi, Edi.
The type of memory that a motherboard can handle is determined by the memory
controller, which is usually in the northbridge of the system chipset (VIA MVP3
for the 503+). One exception, though, is the AMD Athlon64/AthlonFX/Opteron,
which has the memory controller on the CPU itself.
In general, if you do not know what type of RAM to use, you can use an online
configurator to get a basic idea. Try the ones at
http://www.crucial.com or
http://www.kingston.com , for example. The motherboard manual or website is
also another place to look. You can even go online to the chipset
manufacturer's website and look up the chipset specifications yourself, if you
really want to (and are really technically inclined ;-) ).
In the case of the VA-503+, you can use SDRAM, EDO, or FPM RAM. Since you have
a K6-2 500, you will probably only want to use SDRAM, since the other memory
types will only slow you down. The SDRAM density is limited to 16MB/chip, which
means that your maximum is 256MB per stick (double-sided, 8 chips/side). Since
you have 2 DIMM slots, that means you can go up to 512 MB total SDRAM.
By the way, the 16MB/chip limit is very important. If you get a single-sided
256MB (8 chips), it will not work, since that is 32MB/chip. Your computer may
not boot, or it may only recognize 1/2 the memory. You also have to be careful
not to get double-sided, but only 4 chips per side, since that is the same
thing.
Lately, I have seen some memory manufactuers say that "PC133 is not compatible
with PC100 motherboards". This is not totally true. What is really happening
here is that the company's PC133 RAM uses 32MB chips, while their PC100 RAM uses
16 MB chips. Rather than explain the technical difference, they just make that
statement instead, since it is easier. I am not sure how it is in Croatia. The
important thing is the memory density, not the speed.
Hope this helps.
--Alex
edi wrote:
> I didn't catch the previous part of a thread. And I find it very important
> to clear out some oversights (or downsights) about max instalable memmory in
> general. Is there, and where is it that one can find the info 'bout this
> matter in general (for instance if one wants to feed some old Pentium II
> board with RAM or alike). Witch part of a PC, MBo or the CPU architecture
> declares this values of max insttalable RAM.
> I 'm a proud ovner of VA503+ with 1 MB L2 cache on board, also have
> 2x128 pc 133 RAM instaled, with K6 II @ 500MHz. So what's my RAM upgrade
> option. I'm looking for puttin' in it some more RAM. And witch BIOS settings
> aply to it. Thanx in advance
>
> "Steve" <shousto@optushome.com.au> wrote in message
> news:40a8b7dd$0$1585$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> > Thanks guys for your input
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >
> > ally chambe wrote:
> > > I have a 503 plus with Win98SE & a K6-III+450mhz running at 500mhz with
> > > generic stick of double sided 256mb/pc133 sdram. Runs very stable. I had
> > > a stick of PC100 64mb I added and it didn't like it, started getting
> > > lots of errors.Ran Doc Memory tester and didn't find anything. Went back
> > > to 256 only and ok now.
> > >
> > > Kylesb wrote:
> > >
> > >> "farmuse" <farmuse@bburg.net> wrote in message
> > >> news:7Tmfc.30891$hd3.15165@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
> > >> | Steve wrote:
> > >> | > I have an old VA-503+ most recent version. I know its probably a
> > >> | > regular query but suspect my generic ram is playing up because of
> > >> | > frequent hangs and reboots. I tried to install XP but it was of
> > >> end of
> > >> | > trouble.
> > >> | >
> > >> | > My query is;- can someone please advise the maximum amount of ram
> > >> the
> > >> | > m'board can take, plus a reliable brand and place to purchase it
> > >> from?
> > >> |
> > >> | it also depends on the cpu, K6 2 can cache 256 MB, K6 III can
> > >> | cache 512; Kyle knows a lot about this, but I believe these figures
> > >> are
> > >> | right. IOW, if you put 512 MB in a machine with a K6 2 it may
> > >> actually
> > >> | degrade performance. this was true of many of the early chipsets ~
> > >> |
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> The mobo will cache 256 meg (actually 255) with a k6-2, with a k63 or
> > >> 2+ or 3+ CPU, the entire memory space is cached by the onboard
> > >> 128k/256k cache and the mobo cache becomes "tertiary" in usage.
> > >
> > >
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