So I was looking to buy some ram and I noticed this..

[Geekling]

Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered


Whats the difference between Unbuffed and Registered?

 

[IISEVIL]

don't worry about the difference.. what brand do you want? go to the website of the brand/ brands you desire and tell them what MB you have.. it will list the types on ram you can use..

do it.. I purchaced registered ram only to find that it wouldn't work..

if you want a real answer I would say...

*slaps you and runs*

take that sucker!!!

 

[stumpy]

Most mobo's these days use unregistered or unbuffered RAM, it's faster and cheaper most of the time. I wouldn't buy registered unless you have to.

 

[lil layzie]

I don't think you need registered ram unless your building a computer with socket 940 (Opteron, AMD FX). I'm not sure what socket on the Intel camp needs registered ram but if it's one of the Pentiums, I wouldn't worry about it either.

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/r/registered_memory.html

 

[Ice Czar]

http://www.corsairmicro.com/memory_basics/153707/index.html
Id recommend starting at the beginning

 

[Geekling]

Thanks guys.

One more question

I have 256MB DDR PC2100... Do I have to buy another stick of 256? or could I buy a stick of 512 and be ok? My motherboard can take 1gig.

 

[zandor]

Generally speaking registered ram is used in multiprocessor machines. Most Xeon boards use it. Athlon MP (MPX chipset) boards can use unbuffered memory, but only 2 modules. Registered ram is required to use all 4 slots on an MPX board. All AMD socket 940 cpus require registered memory, both the Athlon FX and Opteron lines.
Except for the socket 940 ones, single CPU boards almost always use unbuffered memory only. There are probably some exception, but they're rare.

 

[Ice Czar]

Thanks guys.

One more question

I have 256MB DDR PC2100... Do I have to buy another stick of 256? or could I buy a stick of 512 and be ok? My motherboard can take 1gig.

generally speaking yes
however some boards\memory controllers like paired RAM sticks

what mobo?

 

[Geekling]

just a SysemBoard M811 series...

 

[Ice Czar]

assume you mean PC-Chips M811, aka ECS K7VTA2pro, aka Shuttle AK32VN
same chipset as my Abit KR7A, the VIA KT266A

it dosent require matched capacity sticks, but Id recommend matched speed
(PC2100) and if possible brand, you know what you got works, mixing brands and even speeds is often done, but compatibility issues can occur on occassion, a faster speed would downclock but it would add a greater possibility of a compatibility issue

 

[Geekling]

The same brand might be a problem. Since this was my first build I got some from a local computer store and they went out of buisness...

 

[Ice Czar]

well you can look at the chips on the stick and at least match to the make
(Samsung, Micron ect)

Understanding RAM Chip Numbers