Memory

-=Oxbow=-

Ok Guys, This is my first post on boards.ie in relation to technical stuff and i hope you guys can help me out.
I need a bit of assistance in relation to upgrading my computers memory, both my Hard Drives and my RAM, Currently i only have 64MB RAM and am going to upgrade it to 128MB, So the question is, How much roughly will this cost me?, where in Ireland can i get it the cheapest? (doesnt really matter where, but in the south would be preferable)and if i ring/go to these people what exactly should i ask for, As im sure there are different qualities and types of RAM.
Also im thinking (well i have to actually) of buying some hard drive memory, 10GB of it to be exact. I guess the same questions apply to this as that for the RAM so i wont put you through reading them again. I know for a fact there are many different types of hard drives with diff. speeds like 5400RPM and 7200RPM, so which would be the best buy?

Cheers Guys, Hope you can help me out

**Oxbow**

Trojan

With regard to hard drives, there's 2 types - IDE & SCSI (pron. scuzzy). Unless you specifically asked for SCSI you've probably got an IDE drive, and any IDE device (HDD, CD or ZIP drive) will be compatible as far as I know. RPM speed depends on how much you want to spend really.

Memory is a different story, to replace memory you need to know what type and speed it is - it could be SIMM (Single-inline memory module) or DIMM (Double...). Theres other (less common) types available too. Depending on the motherboard it may take 66Mhz or 100Mhz memory so speed is a factor too.

Can you give some more detail on what the system is?

Al.

Kali

might be helpful if you gave us a bit more info... but anyway are you replacing or adding a new hard drive?
if replacing then i'd reccomend just a little bit more .. 15-20Gb just to save you shelling out again in the future.

for the memory you might want to open up the case and check how many memory banks are in there and what is used.. e.g. it could be 2X32Mb however if (more likely) its just one 64Mb then you can be (pretty) sure its a DIMM so just ask for 64Mb 100Mhz DIMM and you'll be set.. as i said more info is needed

for irish prices a good indicator is http://www.pcp.ie/prices.html .. might give you some idea of what to expect to pay.

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http://www.filmsoc.com

elexes

if i was u id ask gerry for the lot he would give it to you for cheeper then anywhere . 130 i think was the price for gerrys 20 gig and the ram is prob about 50 r so .

Excelsior

i got a hd from gerry, and the society im in in college got ram from him. he is great at that stuff. email him.

elexes

i think this is his e-mial addy
newfoundwelth@hotmial.com



[This message has been edited by elexes (edited 19-07-2000).]

Coyote

Well i would go for a big hd, that is what i did i got 2 40gb grives for 180 quid.
but now your could get a 60 gb or ever a 80 for about 220. in hte long term you will never have to upgrade in the next 4 years
you should check your ram specks to see what you can take, there is no poing in getting 512mb of ram if you have a 486 but if you have 64 then you mihg tbe about to get 128 add on to have 192ram which is nice 128 is the mim now days

Coyote

Blitzkrieger

erm.....Who's Gerry?

Gerry

Yeah a 20 gig is about £130, and ram has gone up, it would be more like £60-70. Hi Blitzkrieger, I am GERRY. Who the fupp are you.

Blitzkrieger

o

*looks at post count, date registered*

who the fupp are you!

OM (only messing)

-=Oxbow=-

Ok guys, ppl are probably gonna ****ed at me for bringing this up again (/me thinks of Blitzkreig at home cursin at Meh ) But Ive been away ALOT in the last, well since i posted this and never got to reply, sorryz
Now, first off...Im not exactly a computer genius (ie: SIMM and DIMM mean nothing but banannas to me ) And the reason i was only going to get 10GB's was i THOUGHT memory was outrageously expensive these days, but apparently not.
I feel about 30GB however would cater for my needs. And i think Coyote was right, 128MB RAM is the Minimum these days, so upgrading to 196 might be a good idea. So maybe Gerry if you could gimmie a guesstimate on that it'd be very much appreciated. And also as far as IDE drives, DIMM and SIMM are concerned, Is there any "easy" (difficult even) way of finding out what exactly i have and what i need !?!
Again Sorry For dragging this up, Any help is greatly appreciated.
....and Blitz i hope you dont think that a persons post count affects their credibility, right to state their own valid opinion or recieve replys in relation to it OM (Only Messing)

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Load Up On Guns, Bring Your Friends Its Fun To Loose And To Pretend...

_CreeD_

Hmmm, just some quick pointers.

What is your CPU speed/Type? If it's less than a 200MMX it's 'probably' using SIMMS. To check youcould look in the BIOS, either on the main screen or advanced it should yell you how much RAM you have and what type it is , SDRAM=DIMM.
You could also open it up and check. SIMMS are 72 pin (About 4" long) and are alwasy installed in pairs. The sockets they sit in have small metal clips at the side.
DIMMs are usually 168 pin (About 6" long) and can be installed singly. The sockets they sit in have small beige plastic (Usually) switches atthe side.

If you have SIMMs then you should find out 9From the BIOS is easiest) if they are EDO, which they should be. Then just buy your ram in a pair of 72 pin, Non Parity (most common) EDO ... Eg. if you want 128Mb you need 2x64 SIMMs.

If you have DIMMs you need to find out what speed they are at, most likely 66 or 100. 66 could be a pain to get hold of (compatible ones anyway) but 100 is dead easy. Any vendor should have PC100 or even PC133 DIMMS fairly cheaply.


On the HDD front. How big is you current drive? If it's an old system it could have either a 2Gb or 8.4Gb limit. Now, these are usually easy to overcome with a BIOS upgrade from the board manufacturer or by getting a seagate/quantum as they have some neat software that can get around these size limits.

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger:
o

*looks at post count, date registered*

who the fupp are you!

OM (only messing)

and you are....?
/me looks at post count and date registered

Gerry

Oxbow, it would be about £140 for 128 mb of ram. I don't think that your machine is that old if it came with 64 mb of ram. If you can tell me what type and speed of cpu is in it, I will know which ram it needs. So I don't think there will be too much of a problem with the hard drive either, although it might have the 8.4 limit. I don't reccomend drive translatio software, windows goes into ms-dos compatibility mode and slows down.

-=Oxbow=-

Ok Guys, i went snooping around inside my computer and found out a few things. Firstly though in reply to your question...I have a Pentium2 350MHz.
Now then, i found out that I have DIMM memory, there are 4 DIMM slots in my PC and two of them are taken up with 32MB chips. Now what speed they are running at is a different story and im not sure how to go about finding this out, Any ideas ??
With regards to my current HD i took a look at that too, It is a Quantum Fireball EX model... Here is a link to it:
http://www.quantum.com/products/archive/fireball_ex/fireball_ex_overview.htm

I appear to have the 3.2GB version, which is pretty mediocre by todays standards as you can imagine Also im not sure about this 8.4GB limit, but as Creed and the site point out there seem to be ways of getting around it
Id just like to say thanx aswell, for all your help so far...Great crowd ye are

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Load Up On Guns, Bring Your Friends Its Fun To Loose And To Pretend...

Trojan

I have a Pentium2 350MHz.

Hmm, I'm not sure, but I'd hazard a guess that that's running at 100MHz, the 333 was the last to run at only 66MHz afaicr.

Have you a Dell or Gateway by any chance, you can look up the system tag to be sure, otherwise you'll have to check the motherboard, we need to get some more info on that before being conclusive. It probably says the RAM speed on the chip too, the ones I've looked at have it usually printed on them somewhere.

Al.

--

amdsoft.com

_CreeD_

Yup, it'll be a 100. So you should be fine.

The board is new enough that there should be a BIOS upgd for it (I think >8.4 Gb drives started hitting around the PII-400 mark or so). HAve a look in your BIOS for it's code (Usual a big string of letters/numbers, should be fairly obvious). Then go to http://Support.intel.com (It's most likely an Intel, unles sye know different for sure) and go hunting for a BIOS upgd for it.

Blitzkrieger

Originally posted by -=Oxbow=-:
Ok guys, ppl are probably gonna ****ed at me for bringing this up again (/me thinks of Blitzkreig at home cursin at Meh


....and Blitz i hope you dont think that a persons post count affects their credibility, right to state their own valid opinion or recieve replys in relation to it OM (Only Messing)

No I won't be cursing you - I'd even help if I could be most of the time the likes of Creed, WWM, Trojan, etc know more than me.

And for future reference - OM and a load of smilies means don't take the post seriously. I see you knew I was only messing but I think WWM got the wrong end of the stick. Soz WWM

Oh- and don't worry what people think - I don't know how you thought I'd be upset by you posting questions - but even if someone is upset you're entitiled to your view/questions/etc


[This message has been edited by Blitzkrieger (edited 27-07-2000).]

-=Oxbow=-

Alrighty So, Im hunting for an upgrade as we speak..(not very successfully i might add)..But Gerry, one thing, What is "drive translatio software" and what im looking for right now aint it is it !?!, The Last thing i want is more problems.
And Blitz dude, Me knows you were only messing and i think WWM was only takin the **** too so take it easy

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Load Up On Guns, Bring Your Friends Its Fun To Loose And To Pretend...

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger:

No I won't be cursing you - I'd even help if I could be most of the time the likes of Creed, WWM, Trojan, etc know more than me.

And for future reference - OM and a load of smilies means don't take the post seriously. I see you knew I was only messing but I think WWM got the wrong end of the stick. Soz WWM

Oh- and don't worry what people think - I don't know how you thought I'd be upset by you posting questions - but even if someone is upset you're entitiled to your view/questions/etc


[This message has been edited by Blitzkrieger (edited 27-07-2000).]

lo, if you knew me, as most people on the boards do, youd know that im never serious..
unless you mention me mum!

Gerry

Oxbow, you wont need drive translation software so dont worry about it. I was just saying that I dont like using it. I used it on 3 machines and it slowed them down.

-=Oxbow=-

Alright Lads, Just Like to say thx to the lot of yis, great help ye were and now ive got a deal with Gerry and my computer wil once more be "state of the art" as it once said on the box
(/me is astonished that my post recieved 20 entries..)
Off on me hols now so i wont be here to annoy ya with anymore questions for 2 weeks

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Load Up On Guns, Bring Your Friends Its Fun To Loose And To Pretend...

Shiminay

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan:
lo, if you knew me, as most people on the boards do, youd know that im never serious..
unless you mention me mum!

And what a Mum she is Eamo...

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All the best,

Dav
@B^)
My page of stuff