Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations derfloh on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
How to figure out ddr type?
- Thread starter JoeyLemor
- Start date
ski
Technical User
- Oct 11, 2000
- 2,467
This utility will tell you all about the RAM(and other components):
- Thread starter
- #4
Thanks dakota81. Is "PC3200" labeled on the chips of the memory itself or is the label only a sticker that the vendor sticks to the memory module?
Utilities as suggested by ski is nice, in fact I already have one, Sisoft Sandra, thought its an old version. But I need a way to find out if it can be immediately determined just by visual inspection of the ram module before buying.
Utilities as suggested by ski is nice, in fact I already have one, Sisoft Sandra, thought its an old version. But I need a way to find out if it can be immediately determined just by visual inspection of the ram module before buying.
In addition, not all have labels to begin with, and the ones that do won't necessarily use a standardized identification scheme.
If you're fortunate enough to see PCxxxx or a MHz rating, then there you go. But when that's not the case, you'll find yourself searching on what appears on the label. Running a utility (or using dxdiag from Start -> Run) will likely be quicker.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
If you're fortunate enough to see PCxxxx or a MHz rating, then there you go. But when that's not the case, you'll find yourself searching on what appears on the label. Running a utility (or using dxdiag from Start -> Run) will likely be quicker.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Thread starter
- #7
I agree with ski, it is possible that vendors can put the wrong labels on the memory module. The best way is to run some diagnostics in the PC as soon as I attached it to the mobo, just like cdogg says.
Regarding dxdiag, it shows some useful system info but i think it does'nt indicate the memory speed or type of memory. I also looked at msinfo32.exe but I can't find this info also. I ran my old version of Sisoft Sandra and it turns out that it didn't say anything about the type of memory either.
I guess I would try the diagnostic product from lavalys.com as ski suggested.
Regarding dxdiag, it shows some useful system info but i think it does'nt indicate the memory speed or type of memory. I also looked at msinfo32.exe but I can't find this info also. I ran my old version of Sisoft Sandra and it turns out that it didn't say anything about the type of memory either.
I guess I would try the diagnostic product from lavalys.com as ski suggested.
Yep, that's right. DXDIAG doesn't show you the memory speed, forgot about that...
Everest Home Edition at ski's link is definitely a good choice and will show you just about any spec you would want from your PC. Another good freebie is Belarc Advisor:
And don't forget, you should also be able to tell from within the BIOS.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Everest Home Edition at ski's link is definitely a good choice and will show you just about any spec you would want from your PC. Another good freebie is Belarc Advisor:
And don't forget, you should also be able to tell from within the BIOS.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Codename46
IS-IT--Management
Micro Center's Memory Configurator is what I use.
tells you the memory speed.
Seriously, look for ddr400 or pc3200 to tell you that it's the memory you want. If the ram isn't labelled with either marking, then don't buy the ram.
I can't think of any instance where I've seen or heard of mis-labelled ram - if the ram ends up running at a slower speed, it's usually the bios setting it up wrong, not that the ram is defective in any way.
Seriously, look for ddr400 or pc3200 to tell you that it's the memory you want. If the ram isn't labelled with either marking, then don't buy the ram.
I can't think of any instance where I've seen or heard of mis-labelled ram - if the ram ends up running at a slower speed, it's usually the bios setting it up wrong, not that the ram is defective in any way.
- Thread starter
- #12
i just bought the memory and it is labeled as DDR 400. To confirm, i also run a test, and the software indicated that it was indeed DDR400, and it also said that my old ram is a DDR333.
Now that I have both kinds, I noticed that the DDR333 has only four chips & is only single-sided (all chips on one side) while the DDR 400 has 16 chips (8 on each side). I wonder if that difference is the same in all ddr modules?
Anyway, the best thing of all is that the new DDR400 worked with my old ram, which is a DDR333. Thanks for the info on the software guys, i'll try to get each of them to see which one will be easiest to use.
Now that I have both kinds, I noticed that the DDR333 has only four chips & is only single-sided (all chips on one side) while the DDR 400 has 16 chips (8 on each side). I wonder if that difference is the same in all ddr modules?
Anyway, the best thing of all is that the new DDR400 worked with my old ram, which is a DDR333. Thanks for the info on the software guys, i'll try to get each of them to see which one will be easiest to use.
Joey,
Just to clarify, single- and dual-sided chips have nothing to do with their speed. Even old PC100 and PC133 SDRAM had both kinds. The difference is about density...
Most motherboards today have little problem working with either kind. There are some exceptions, but for the most part like you've discovered, there shouldn't be an issue.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
Just to clarify, single- and dual-sided chips have nothing to do with their speed. Even old PC100 and PC133 SDRAM had both kinds. The difference is about density...
Most motherboards today have little problem working with either kind. There are some exceptions, but for the most part like you've discovered, there shouldn't be an issue.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Question
- Locked
- Question
