Hiya folks,

Well this stuff is sort of over my head so I thought I'd come here for expert knowledge.

I'm currently running 4 sticks of 128 pc100 ram. I recently scored 4 sticks of 256 ram, problem is the new sticks are pc133 and I get an error at start up when I install them.

Someone suggested updating my bios (PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0).

So my question is this, will updating the bios enable me to use the pc133 ram and if so how the heck do I update the bios? :rolleyes:

Is there anyway at all for me to use the pc133 in my machine or is it a lost cause?

Thanks for reading and any help you can offer.

probably won't, but you could give it a shot. sometimes new BIOS flashes will allow usage of hardware that wasn't previously able to be used, but this is typically most true with processors, not RAM.

there are two situations with your system:

1) your hardware may not recognize 4x256MB RAM. some motherboards don't support 1GB of RAM total. others do. newer systems usually do.

2) your version of Windows may not recognize 4x256MB of RAM. Windows 95, 98 and ME all had a cap of 512MB of RAM. you couldn't use more than this without making Windows unstable. Win NT, 2k, XP and 2k3 don't have this cap.

if you are running XP, yes, you should be able to utilize it all - but only if your mobo supports it.

Hey Shifty, thanks very much for the reply. :metal:

Here are some more specs on my pc, using Belarc Advisor. Maybe you can help me narrow down the problem a bit more.



Operating System
Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 (build 2195)

System Model
Intel Corporation

Processor
350 megahertz Intel Pentium II (2 installed)
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board
Board: Intel Corporation NS440BX DP 694708-207
Serial Number: IBNS84102694
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corporation NIGHTS0.86B.0087.P13.9911080844 11/08/99

Memory Modules
512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 128 MB
Slot '1' has 128 MB
Slot '2' has 128 MB
Slot '3' has 128 MB

Drives
60.02 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
51.38 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

LITE-ON DVD SOHD-16P9S [CD-ROM drive]
TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1402 [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

ST320413A [Hard drive] (20.02 GB) -- drive 0
ST340810A [Hard drive] (40.02 GB) -- drive 1


This is old server unit they retired where my GF works. Since it's school related and purchased with grant money they have rules about not selling the stuff, they either trash it, give it away or it sits in storage until it returns to its base elements. Since the GF already had a brand new pc I got this baby.

Not the latest and greatest I know but I love the full size tower and the module that would have held the network drives has two 4" fans that move enough air through this thing to cool a small block Chevy! ;)

Anyway, thanks for any additional info you can offer. Peace.

TugOWar...I just did a check and there is no BIOS Update to make the 133 memory work. That board is locked at a 100MHz Memory Bus. It will handle the 256M size DIMMs, but not the speed.

Some brands of pc 133 memory are backwards compatible. Sounds like yours might not be or the motherboard will only support single sided dimm chips. if you go to intels website and search for your board it will tell you what ram it will support. Also I would make sure the 256mb sticks didn't come out of a macintosh. Some of this ram is MAc only and will not work in your pc. It has to do with the speed of the memory itself.

Well that figures ... Just my luck. :rolleyes: Thought I had something cool there. LoL

Just for curiosity sake, how did you search for my board at the Intel website?
What numbers did you use? :phat:

edit: Its not mac ram for sure.

N440BX. Here:
http://mysearch.intel.com/corporate/default.aspx?culture=en-US&q=N440BX