PING: paul

Paul, I need your input. Before reading your post(s) re: 128m4, 1gig
ram modules, I bought off Ebay what was advertised as a Micron, 1gb,
module--unbuffered, Non-ecc, 400 mhz, 2.5 volt, dimm high-density,
non-parity.
It got here Sat. Has chips marked with Micron logo, 46v128m4 with a 2-2
above this number on the chip. Also has a -6T below the longer #. It also
has a generic white label saying "1 gb, pc 3200, 400 mhz, ddr, dimm,
warranty void if removed". Nowhere on the module does it have a Micron
label or Micron name EXCEPT on the chips themselves. What do you think I
have? I'm afraid to install it in my Asus, A7N8X DeLuxe! Thx in advance,
sam

sdlomi2 wrote:
> Paul, I need your input. Before reading your post(s) re: 128m4, 1gig
> ram modules, I bought off Ebay what was advertised as a Micron, 1gb,
> module--unbuffered, Non-ecc, 400 mhz, 2.5 volt, dimm high-density,
> non-parity.
> It got here Sat. Has chips marked with Micron logo, 46v128m4 with a 2-2
> above this number on the chip. Also has a -6T below the longer #. It also
> has a generic white label saying "1 gb, pc 3200, 400 mhz, ddr, dimm,
> warranty void if removed". Nowhere on the module does it have a Micron
> label or Micron name EXCEPT on the chips themselves. What do you think I
> have? I'm afraid to install it in my Asus, A7N8X DeLuxe! Thx in advance,
> sam
>

Just because it has Micron chips on it, doesn't make it a Micron module.

A Crucial module, has two labels on it. A Crucial label and a Micron label.
Micron is the parent company of Crucial.

A Micron module should have a Micron sticky label and a Micron module part
number on that label. Micron has pretty extensive documentation for both
modules and individual chips on their web site.

The "6T" is some kind of clock speed rating. On some families of chips, you
had to look this up (the scheme was a lookup table). In other cases the
translation is more direct. I would interpret this as "6 nanoseconds" -
take the inverse and multiply by two to get DDR333.

7.5 = DDR266
6 = DDR333
5 = DDR400

Maybe the geniuses who made the DIMM, tested it at room temperature and found it
passed at DDR400 speeds. But the chip itself is certified at DDR333, unless
I've made some mistake. (Note that Mushkin did this a while back, with
some Winbond chips. Back when the good BH-6 chips were gone, and there
were some DDR333 chips they had available to them. But your module may not
have been tested as carefully as an enthusiast stick of RAM.)

There is a chip datasheet here. Interesting how they handle the 2.5V versus 2.6V
thing. Their DDR333 or slower RAM is rated 2.5V+/-0.2V and their DDR400
is 2.6V+/-0.1V.

http://download.micron.com/pdf/datasheets/dram/ddr/512MBDDRx4x8x16.pdf

The chips are 128Mx4, which means the module is an "Ebay configuration".
On an A7N8X, this should cause a density issue. AFAIK, the full 1GB
capacity can only be recognized on Nforce2, if you use 64Mx8 chips.
This is not based on data from Nvidia, but on what someone posted as
happened to them. I don't know if there is any guidance in print
about it or not.

You can install it. I'd try it all by itself. If you suspected the
construction quality was poor (i.e. sloppy job) or that the module
was never tested, it could always short something. If might register
as 512MB or maybe some smaller number. Not really sure on what
you'd expect it to register as.

Hmmm. I'm seeing a business opportunity here. I buy "Ebay configuration"
modules from people, at a fraction of what they paid. I unsolder the chips,
and sell them to companies that make registered DIMMs for server memory,
which is where the damn 128Mx4 chips should have gone in the first place.
Think I'd make any money ?

Paul