[ale] memory questions

[James P. Kinney III]

On Mon, 2004-10-11 at 16:01 -0400, Bjorn Dittmer-Roche wrote:
> Hey all,
> 
>  	I've decided it's time to upgrade memory on both my mac and my 
> FreeBSD server. I really want nice RAM because of past experiences [1] 
> so any general advice is appreciated in addition to specific answers:
> 
> * My G4 450MHz crashes occasionally (frequently under heavy load) and I am 
> suspecting it's the RAM (I bought the machine used, and I am writing my 
> own software, so really it could be anything, but I want to rule out RAM). 
> Is Apple the best vendor?
> 
> * My FreeBSD server has a paltry 256. It's vanilla ram, but it works great 
> so in this case I'd like to augment rather than replace it. The MoBo 
> manual says I need PC1600 or PC2100 DDR SDRAM. Can I buy registered ECC 
> RAM and expect it to play nice with the MoBo and existing RAM or do I need 
> to replace? Will the mobo even work with ECC if it doesn't say so? I can't 
> remember the speed of my existing RAM, is that an issue?

Unless the system _REQUIRES_ ECC Registered RAM, don't spend the money
as the mobo won't be able to use. It cost about 30% more that the
vanilla of the same speed and size.

For the BSD box, get more of the same speed stuff you have now.
Otherwise, the new faster stuff will be underclocked to speed match with
the slowest stuff. PC2100 is rather inexpensive (compared to it's ECC,
REG brethren that my Tyam boards are gobbling up faster than I can
afford - 1G PC133 REG ECC = $220. I'm not even looking at the 2G's! I
have 15 more slot. Then the divorce.)

> 
> 
> TIA!
> 
>  	bjorn
> 
> [1] I inherited a machine once that kept crashing. Couldn't figure it out 
> until finally I checked the bios and discovered that ***RAM had been 
> overclocked***. Not the ram's fault, but it makes me want to be extra 
> careful.
> 
> 
> -------------------
> Bjorn Dittmer-Roche
> XO Audio LLC
> 
> http://www.xowave.com
> http://www.xoaudio.com
> _______________________________________________
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> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> 
> !DSPAM:416ae75e141602944213545!
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