RDRAM? Is this right?

The P4's that use the rdram, if you upgrade the memory, is it true that you have to buy the memory in sets? For example 2x64 mb chips, 2x128mb chips???

Thanks

Yes rdram need to be installed in pairs, there are some P4 motherboards that use sdram and ddr ram as well as those that use rdram.

Thanks Placid

The reason I asked is my brother bought a P4 from Dell and he wanted to upgrade the memory and when he said it had to be installed in pairs I just wanted to make sure someone wasn't trying to pull one over on him. I never messed with Rdram, so I didn't know.

Thanks again

cornbread said:

The P4's that use the rdram, if you upgrade the memory, is it true that you have to buy the memory in sets? For example 2x64 mb chips, 2x128mb chips???

Thanks

Click to expand...

NO you don't have to install it in pairs,you can upgrade one stick at a time,
you do have to use a "pass-through" module board to fill the empty slot/s though,or remove it to add more ram.

one of my boxes has an intel VC820 mobo and it takes rambus,and I have a stick of 128mg pc700 that it came with,and later I added a stick of 128mg pc800 and took out the fake board and it works great!

so from my personal experience,no you can upgrade one stick at a time.unless other mobo's are different(which I doubt).read here
or here
and a little more reading

His motherboard has 4 memory slots and 2 of them are filled with a 64mb rdram in each for a total of 128. So if he wanted to just add another stick of 128mb, he could do that?

For example:

slot 1: 64mb
slot 2: 64mb
slot 3: 128mb
slot 4: 0 installed

Would this combo work?

cornbread said:

His motherboard has 4 memory slots and 2 of them are filled with a 64mb rdram in each for a total of 128. So if he wanted to just add another stick of 128mb, he could do that?

For example:

slot 1: 64mb
slot 2: 64mb
slot 3: 128mb
slot 4: 0 installed

Would this combo work?

Click to expand...

as far as I know ,Yes,it should work just adding one stick,try it,worse case is you buy another one.but yes ,I believe one or two more would work fine,it did in my box.

just keep the "pass throgh" stick in #4 slot.
and actually I would do
slot 1-128
slot 2-64
slot 3-64
slot 4-0/pass through stick
___________________________________________________
"RIMM Module Compatibility
Memory compatibility for desktop PCs is one of the important features of RDRAM. It allows RDRAM RIMM modules to be interchangeable with full system compatibility. Validated RIMM modules can be placed in an RDRAM-compatible system without regard to memory size, speed, or organization. Mix and match RIMM modules from various suppliers and they will all work together within the system. No other technology available today can make that claim."

this

I think it does matter on the motherboard.
The motherboards that use the dummy rimms come with some and they should be installed in the unused slots already.
So if the "dummy" rimms are in the board then yes.
You really should download the manual for the board thou because sometimes you need to put the added memory in a certain slot and the dummy rimm in a certain slot for it to work.

in my experiance with rdram it does have to be in pairs OR have a "terminator" stick in an empty slot to complete the pairing.

ie:

slot 1: 64mb
slot 2: 64mb
slot 3: empty
slot 4: empty

or

slot 1: 64mb
slot 2: 64mb
slot 3: 64mb
slot 4: terminator

both of those are acceptable. i've got a pIII 800 from dell with 128 rdram that it came with. only two slots and the second slot had a terminator in it. the only time a slot can be empty is if second slot of the pairing is empty.