neilmjohnson
asked on
Will Dell Dimension 8200 work with ECC memory?
I have a DELL Dimension 8200 with 1 GB made up of 4X256 sticks of non-ECC PC800-45 memory. I would like to increase this to at least 1.5 GB by finding some cheap RDRAM PC800 memory. However, there seems to be almost no non-ECC memory available on e-Bay, it is all ECC. The specs for my machine on Dell state that my machine takes non-ECC memory. A number of vendors indicate that this box will in fact take ECC memory. I had ordered ECC memory by accident once, and it did not work, however, we found out later on that the Samsung memory must be PC800-45 not 40 to work with my mother board, so it may have been the 40ns chips causing the problem not the ECC. Can anyone help me to understand whether the Dell will take ECC memory and work?
Thanks, Neil
Thanks, Neil
PUNKY
Base on specs: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim8200/specs.htm#1101572 the answer is NO for ECC and RDRAM. RDRAM is different memory type, in fact, they will not fit in your memory slots. Your system is using only non-ECC memory type.
Also, based on specs, 40 ns or faster will work.
ASKER
Yeah, I checked these specs as well, I was just curious as to why so many memory vendors web sites claim that RDRAM ECC memory will work with the Dell 8200, and I wanted to find out if I was missing something. Also, the last time I ordered memory, the 45ns did not work, and when I checked the Samsung site, it said that my 8200 had a chip revision which required 40ns. At the time, the Dell specs said 45ns would work, which has made me question their accuracy with regards to the ECC. I have seen some sites claim that ECC will work, but it will just ignore the ECC bit.
SOLUTION
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Your system will work fine with ECC RDRAM modules. In fact, you can mix non-ECC and ECC modules (although you MUST use a matched pair of each) ... although in this case the ECC function will be disabled.
Note also that if your 8200 is one of the 533FSB models, you can use RDRAM-1066 ==> although this is unlikely since you currently have PC800 modules (and the higher speed modules are a LOT pricier with relatively little gain).
Note also that if your 8200 is one of the 533FSB models, you can use RDRAM-1066 ==> although this is unlikely since you currently have PC800 modules (and the higher speed modules are a LOT pricier with relatively little gain).
ASKER
Gentlemen, thank-you both for the fast responses. One last question before I award points - any idea why RDRAM ECC memory should be so much cheaper than non-ECC? It used to be the other way around.
Thanks, Neil
Thanks, Neil
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