I think I might even have one of those. A couple years ago I went through and validated all of my memory sticks, and found a few tiny ones. They're a fun novelty.

Some really old games won't work with too much memory. I know that there are config file tricks, but I keep low capacity sticks like this just in case.

It is 430VX, 440LX/EX and some early Xeon/SDRAM boards that like low density 32MB DIMMs, also may use 32 chip 64MBs. 430TX should take most 64MBs and some 128s. A pair of 128s is pretty much guaranteed to work fine in a 440BX, larger modules that work properly are rarer, and I'm about done with those posts that are all "I put new 2x256 in my BX so RAM should be fine, but for some unrelated reason it's gone all crashy... "

Wifi cards, I'd keep the BT/Wifi combos, and a few of the older/larger miniPCI that just basically use USB pins, because you can then give wifi to anything with USB with a bit of wire bodging. Also anything that looks like one of those with no antenna sockets on might be something interesting like an MPEG accelerator or Intel Turbo cache or something. If it's got a SIM card socket it's a cellular modem.

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:21:

I think I might even have one of those. A couple years ago I went through and validated all of my memory sticks, and found a few tiny ones. They're a fun novelty.

Some really old games won't work with too much memory. I know that there are config file tricks, but I keep low capacity sticks like this just in case.

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid?

SDRAM - Keep it all. Some systems and some games like minimal RAM or low capacity DIMMs, and some systems can potentially support HUGE amounts of SDRAM for those crazy builds (Tualatin or early P4 with SDRAM). It is all potentially useful.

DDR - Keep 512MB and up. Since there are so many systems that use slower DDR (266), then I might as well just keep all speeds. No need to keep anything less than 512MB though, right?

DDR2 - Keep a few 512MB for testing and installing Win9x on "overkill" systems. Keep some 1GB, keep all 2GB. I recall some systems only liking the speed of RAM they came with (like PC2-4200), so I guess I should keep 1GB sticks of that speed too. Or this could have been a fluke and I really don't need anything less than PC2-5300 on hand?

EDIT: Small adjustment... I am actually finding that I have comparatively little DDR1 memory, so I will probably hang onto the 256MB sticks too, just in case.

... in case of what? I have no idea. Realistically I'll never get through all this stuff before I find more. 🤣

I'm curious to know... does anyone else have less DDR than other memory? Seems like I just don't come across it often, but it could be that I just never cared to keep it... or that the boards that have it are almost always toast (bad caps) so I rarely pick them up.

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:37:

It is 430VX, 440LX/EX and some early Xeon/SDRAM boards that like low density 32MB DIMMs, also may use 32 chip 64MBs. 430TX should take most 64MBs and some 128s. A pair of 128s is pretty much guaranteed to work fine in a 440BX, larger modules that work properly are rarer, and I'm about done with those posts that are all "I put new 2x256 in my BX so RAM should be fine, but for some unrelated reason it's gone all crashy... "

Wifi cards, I'd keep the BT/Wifi combos, and a few of the older/larger miniPCI that just basically use USB pins, because you can then give wifi to anything with USB with a bit of wire bodging. Also anything that looks like one of those with no antenna sockets on might be something interesting like an MPEG accelerator or Intel Turbo cache or something. If it's got a SIM card socket it's a cellular modem.

Thank you! That's super helpful regarding the wifi cards. I hadn't thought of other cards that may look like wifi at first glance. 😀

Pretty sure there's a whole 1-2 pound bag of the older mini-PCI cards I still need to go through. The ones that are like an inch and a half long.

I find there's little reason to toss out memory modules except maybe for defective ones.
These take up so little space, it's barely worth the time to sort them out and dispose off.

Tetrium wrote on 2023-04-19, 18:21:

I find there's little reason to toss out memory modules except maybe for defective ones.
These take up so little space, it's barely worth the time to sort them out and dispose off.

I have been collecting and not getting rid of memory for 24 years and I was just given the entire accumulated collection of a guy who has been doing it for 27. It does not take up a trivial amount of space. 😮

Being that the guy mostly worked on laptops and OEM systems, the majority of the memory is the absolute lowest capacity possible.

I don't see myself ever installing the minimum amount of RAM in a laptop from the mid 2000s, especially when I have several dozen sets that would double that amount.

To top it off, 8+ pounds of bare (no heatsink) RAM modules (not counting another few pounds of wifi cards and CPUs) is certainly not of trivial value. 😮

ATi_Loyalist wrote on 2023-04-16, 20:56:

Ok am I allowed to ask how/where the best places to look are? Any tips or no-nos? If discussing these things is frowned upon that's okay, just curious.

Where about in AZ are you?

Back when I lived in AZ, there was the Tanque Verde swap meet in Tucson, but no idea if that is even a thing anymore.

There was also a swap meet on the southeast side of town. Again, no idea if that is a thing anymore.

Thrift stores used to be pretty good for finding stuff but that depends on your location.

Craigslist is very hit or miss as are yard sales.

Certain recycle centers can be good as well IF they give or sell stuff to the public.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:46:

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid? […]
Show full quote

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:21:

I think I might even have one of those. A couple years ago I went through and validated all of my memory sticks, and found a few tiny ones. They're a fun novelty.

Some really old games won't work with too much memory. I know that there are config file tricks, but I keep low capacity sticks like this just in case.

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid?

SDRAM - Keep it all. Some systems and some games like minimal RAM or low capacity DIMMs, and some systems can potentially support HUGE amounts of SDRAM for those crazy builds (Tualatin or early P4 with SDRAM). It is all potentially useful.

DDR - Keep 512MB and up. Since there are so many systems that use slower DDR (266), then I might as well just keep all speeds. No need to keep anything less than 512MB though, right?

DDR2 - Keep a few 512MB for testing and installing Win9x on "overkill" systems. Keep some 1GB, keep all 2GB. I recall some systems only liking the speed of RAM they came with (like PC2-4200), so I guess I should keep 1GB sticks of that speed too. Or this could have been a fluke and I really don't need anything less than PC2-5300 on hand?

EDIT: Small adjustment... I am actually finding that I have comparatively little DDR1 memory, so I will probably hang onto the 256MB sticks too, just in case.

... in case of what? I have no idea. Realistically I'll never get through all this stuff before I find more. 🤣

I'm curious to know... does anyone else have less DDR than other memory? Seems like I just don't come across it often, but it could be that I just never cared to keep it... or that the boards that have it are almost always toast (bad caps) so I rarely pick them up.

There is value in keeping other speeds and capacities for testing purposes. Maybe the system is unstable... or only unstable with RAM at that speed, density, or capacity. There's no way to know for sure without swapping it with something else.

For example, I plugged 512MB (2x256MB) into a 440BX board and struggled with lockups, graphical glitches, and instability for months. It took me a long time to narrow it down to RAM "capacity", and only with certain densities. Same ram but one stick at a time is 100% stable, for example. I then had to test every matching pair of 256MB sticks to validate compatibility.

Also this:

DOS command line RAR can't work with 512MB of memory

Although it matters little, because LFN support is broken:

Is there a way to get RAR for DOS to retain the original filename case?

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-20, 04:51:

There is value in keeping other speeds and capacities for testing purposes. Maybe the system is unstable... or only unstable wit […]
Show full quote

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:46:

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid? […]
Show full quote

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:21:

I think I might even have one of those. A couple years ago I went through and validated all of my memory sticks, and found a few tiny ones. They're a fun novelty.

Some really old games won't work with too much memory. I know that there are config file tricks, but I keep low capacity sticks like this just in case.

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid?

SDRAM - Keep it all. Some systems and some games like minimal RAM or low capacity DIMMs, and some systems can potentially support HUGE amounts of SDRAM for those crazy builds (Tualatin or early P4 with SDRAM). It is all potentially useful.

DDR - Keep 512MB and up. Since there are so many systems that use slower DDR (266), then I might as well just keep all speeds. No need to keep anything less than 512MB though, right?

DDR2 - Keep a few 512MB for testing and installing Win9x on "overkill" systems. Keep some 1GB, keep all 2GB. I recall some systems only liking the speed of RAM they came with (like PC2-4200), so I guess I should keep 1GB sticks of that speed too. Or this could have been a fluke and I really don't need anything less than PC2-5300 on hand?

EDIT: Small adjustment... I am actually finding that I have comparatively little DDR1 memory, so I will probably hang onto the 256MB sticks too, just in case.

... in case of what? I have no idea. Realistically I'll never get through all this stuff before I find more. 🤣

I'm curious to know... does anyone else have less DDR than other memory? Seems like I just don't come across it often, but it could be that I just never cared to keep it... or that the boards that have it are almost always toast (bad caps) so I rarely pick them up.

There is value in keeping other speeds and capacities for testing purposes. Maybe the system is unstable... or only unstable with RAM at that speed, density, or capacity. There's no way to know for sure without swapping it with something else.

For example, I plugged 512MB (2x256MB) into a 440BX board and struggled with lockups, graphical glitches, and instability for months. It took me a long time to narrow it down to RAM "capacity", and only with certain densities. Same ram but one stick at a time is 100% stable, for example. I then had to test every matching pair of 256MB sticks to validate compatibility.

Also this:

DOS command line RAR can't work with 512MB of memory

Although it matters little, because LFN support is broken:

Is there a way to get RAR for DOS to retain the original filename case?

I agree with that, but it seems like most of those issues were much less common as time went on. I still have not come across too many issues beyond the DDR era. Keeping all or most of the SDR and DDR I have seems like a good idea. Beyond that, it seems unnecessary.

Funny thing, I just found a thread I made about this issue a couple years ago. 🤣
RAM Speeds and Backward Compatibility (SDR, DDR,DDR2,DDR3)

Some laptops (Apple) are picky about SODIMM (DDR2?) speeds. Some modern laptops require LPDDR (DDR3?) and won't work with regular DDR.

This is off the top of my head, from personal experience.

I'm also currently doing a clear out. Mostly low ends stuff left over from upgrades.
My thinking is chuck it all on ebay with a £1 starting bid plus shipping. If it sells then great someone is getting use out of it rather then spending another 5+ years in a box on my shelf and as it's all low end stuff if I do need say a 32MB stick of SD Ram then I'll just buy it at the time as its all cheap and common.

Anything that doesn't sell (which is alot of it really) that's what fate has decided I should keep as test hardware.

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:46:

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid? […]
Show full quote

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-19, 14:21:

I think I might even have one of those. A couple years ago I went through and validated all of my memory sticks, and found a few tiny ones. They're a fun novelty.

Some really old games won't work with too much memory. I know that there are config file tricks, but I keep low capacity sticks like this just in case.

So, would you say these keep vs toss parameters are pretty solid?

SDRAM - Keep it all. Some systems and some games like minimal RAM or low capacity DIMMs, and some systems can potentially support HUGE amounts of SDRAM for those crazy builds (Tualatin or early P4 with SDRAM). It is all potentially useful.

DDR - Keep 512MB and up. Since there are so many systems that use slower DDR (266), then I might as well just keep all speeds. No need to keep anything less than 512MB though, right?

DDR2 - Keep a few 512MB for testing and installing Win9x on "overkill" systems. Keep some 1GB, keep all 2GB. I recall some systems only liking the speed of RAM they came with (like PC2-4200), so I guess I should keep 1GB sticks of that speed too. Or this could have been a fluke and I really don't need anything less than PC2-5300 on hand?

EDIT: Small adjustment... I am actually finding that I have comparatively little DDR1 memory, so I will probably hang onto the 256MB sticks too, just in case.

... in case of what? I have no idea. Realistically I'll never get through all this stuff before I find more. 🤣

I'm curious to know... does anyone else have less DDR than other memory? Seems like I just don't come across it often, but it could be that I just never cared to keep it... or that the boards that have it are almost always toast (bad caps) so I rarely pick them up.

I distroyed a 256 MB DDR2 REGISTERED module , I need'ed a tiny part from it to fix a Ford Navigation , but I could not fix-it , even though the part was dismounted with hot air station and loads of flux well, when trying to re-mount to Navi PCB , I lost the rail-point that was under the part so the trace had no connection to the part , so it would not boot , w8sted half a day to fit the darn part , and was not successful in fixing the navi , so I gave up. I really have no skils if I am not done in first try. after 2-3rd try I just start messing up re-soldering stuff...(with hot air station at 400C or so).

Ozzuneoj wrote on 2023-04-19, 19:04:

I have been collecting and not getting rid of memory for 24 years and I was just given the entire accumulated collection of a gu […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote on 2023-04-19, 18:21:

I find there's little reason to toss out memory modules except maybe for defective ones.
These take up so little space, it's barely worth the time to sort them out and dispose off.

I have been collecting and not getting rid of memory for 24 years and I was just given the entire accumulated collection of a guy who has been doing it for 27. It does not take up a trivial amount of space. 😮

Being that the guy mostly worked on laptops and OEM systems, the majority of the memory is the absolute lowest capacity possible.

I don't see myself ever installing the minimum amount of RAM in a laptop from the mid 2000s, especially when I have several dozen sets that would double that amount.

To top it off, 8+ pounds of bare (no heatsink) RAM modules (not counting another few pounds of wifi cards and CPUs) is certainly not of trivial value. 😮

If it's for a collective 50+ years of collection without ever having ridden oneself of any memory modules (and if one has relatively little space), then yes I can imagine it will start to fill up more and more and will consequently take up more and more space, but not to the same degree as most other parts.
I basically totally agree about the laptop ram anyway. The only other useful purpose I could see such low capacity (laptop) modules potentially have, is for cannibalizing the memory chips for whatever reason. Or for use as test parts.

I don't collect laptops so my laptop parts are few.

Luke4838P wrote on 2023-04-19, 06:37:

Found this 286 16 mhz mb, looks beatiful and nice, no battery damage. I tried placing a ISA 16 bit 512 kb VGA card, psu and keyb […]
Show full quote

Found this 286 16 mhz mb, looks beatiful and nice, no battery damage.
I tried placing a ISA 16 bit 512 kb VGA card, psu and keyboard.
Turning it on has the MB buzzer beep three times.
American Megatrends bios 1990.
The motherboard is unidentified.
I placed two sticks of RAM 30 pin 512 kb (2x256 branded Toshiba) in bank 0.
The board has no video output but I know for sure that the video card and keyboard are working fine.
The ISA slots were kind of stiff so I used contact cleaner so it should loosen a bit.

1) Theres a exploded capacitor near the power connector,
2) clean the memory connector.. it's green

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-20, 06:12:

Some laptops (Apple) are picky about SODIMM (DDR2?) speeds. Some modern laptops require LPDDR (DDR3?) and won't work with regular DDR.

This is off the top of my head, from personal experience.

I definitely had to run PC2-4200 sticks in my PowerBook G4 1.67, it would not recognize anything faster.

nuno14272 wrote on 2023-04-20, 12:49:

Luke4838P wrote on 2023-04-19, 06:37:

Found this 286 16 mhz mb, looks beatiful and nice, no battery damage. I tried placing a ISA 16 bit 512 kb VGA card, psu and keyb […]
Show full quote

Found this 286 16 mhz mb, looks beatiful and nice, no battery damage.
I tried placing a ISA 16 bit 512 kb VGA card, psu and keyboard.
Turning it on has the MB buzzer beep three times.
American Megatrends bios 1990.
The motherboard is unidentified.
I placed two sticks of RAM 30 pin 512 kb (2x256 branded Toshiba) in bank 0.
The board has no video output but I know for sure that the video card and keyboard are working fine.
The ISA slots were kind of stiff so I used contact cleaner so it should loosen a bit.

1) Theres a exploded capacitor near the power connector,
2) clean the memory connector.. it's green

Thanks, i didn't really notice it, i just tested the MB and was puzzled why it didn't work.
What type of capacitor i need to use? Do i need to use a specific one?
I used BANK 0 that i checked that was okay, i guess that it could be just oxide as the motherboard is completely clean of battery acid, on both sides.

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-04-20, 06:12:

Some laptops (Apple) are picky about SODIMM (DDR2?) speeds. Some modern laptops require LPDDR (DDR3?) and won't work with regular DDR.

This is off the top of my head, from personal experience.

Yeah, those are the only two instances I have really heard of as well. I don't ever work with Apple computers, and I already keep the tiny bit of LPDDR3 I come across.

Did the first Pre-Core2 DDR2 PCs (not Macs!) have issues with faster modules? If not, there is really no reason for me to keep the oldest, slowest stuff... other than a few sticks for testing, as mentioned before.

Tetrium wrote on 2023-04-20, 12:22:

If it's for a collective 50+ years of collection without ever having ridden oneself of any memory modules (and if one has relatively little space), then yes I can imagine it will start to fill up more and more and will consequently take up more and more space, but not to the same degree as most other parts.
I basically totally agree about the laptop ram anyway. The only other useful purpose I could see such low capacity (laptop) modules potentially have, is for cannibalizing the memory chips for whatever reason. Or for use as test parts.

I don't collect laptops so my laptop parts are few.

Yeah, I don't collect laptops either. This guy certainly did... or rather, he collected the parts, heh.

I don't exactly have a tiny amount of space (I own a home), but I try to not horde stuff I will never use or that is extremely unlikely to increase in value over the next 10-15 years.

Here is my thought process when determining what to keep:
What is the value of a single 486SX, or a set of 256k or 1MB 30pin SIMMs? How hard are they to find? While the value has gone up on some, it is still quite easy to find these really, despite the fact that they are 30+ years old and relatively few of them would have been made compared to the insane quantity of PCs being pumped out in the mid 2000s. On top of that, the perceived "retro value" of older stuff like that compared to things from the mid 2000s is much much higher. A PC using authentic hardware from the early to mid '90s can get you an real PC running DOS and Windows 3.1 games on proper hardware without the issues caused by using hardware that is too new or too fast. A PC from the mid 2000s will run games that the majority of the time will work 10x better on something newer and faster.

Basically, low end hardware from the 90s still has many "practical" retro uses, and building them can be an interesting experience that opens up the possibility of running very specific old software (or other interesting hardware).

If people want to play games from ~2006 some day, however, how many will actually use a Celeron D and 2x512MB of PC2-4200 DDR2 on Windows Vista (with a hard drive) to do it? I would think very very very few, aside from those that genuinely want to laugh at how bad some OEM PCs were at the time.

There is absolutely a chance that at some point a Celeron D and slow, low capacity DDR2 will be highly sought after, but how long will I have to sit on this stuff in the mean time? And will looking at the extra boxes of junk I will never use discourage me from picking up one more scrap lot that contains valuable stuff I'll actually use? 😀

For me personally, the $250+ in scrap value and the space cleared up is worth it right now. I still have a huge quantity of RAM, but now it is contained to... one largish box, two small totes... and two small boxes. And that obviously doesn't count what is in the motherboards and PCs I own... or all the RAM that will show up in other lots over the coming years. That is plenty for my lifetime. 🤣

It's not so much about how much space a specific useless horded retro item will take up, it's the total space taken up by all of the useless horded retro items, and what could have been done with the space\time\energy\money required to keep them. I've gotten rid of many broken\dead cards and boards over the years that are likely worth more now, even defective or beyond repair... but if I kept it all I'd likely lose things that are far more precious, like my sanity, my family or the ability to walk through my office\basement\garage without hanging my head in shame. 🤣

Some RAM modules are quite hard to find also, I searched for available, reasonably priced high capacity (4GB) and high speed (DDR2-800 or DDR2-1066) DDR2 modules and they are not easy to find...I had to fall back to 2GB modules.

Luke4838P wrote on 2023-04-20, 20:43:

Thanks, i didn't really notice it, i just tested the MB and was puzzled why it didn't work. What type of capacitor i need to use […]
Show full quote

nuno14272 wrote on 2023-04-20, 12:49:

Luke4838P wrote on 2023-04-19, 06:37:

Found this 286 16 mhz mb, looks beatiful and nice, no battery damage. I tried placing a ISA 16 bit 512 kb VGA card, psu and keyb […]
Show full quote

Found this 286 16 mhz mb, looks beatiful and nice, no battery damage.
I tried placing a ISA 16 bit 512 kb VGA card, psu and keyboard.
Turning it on has the MB buzzer beep three times.
American Megatrends bios 1990.
The motherboard is unidentified.
I placed two sticks of RAM 30 pin 512 kb (2x256 branded Toshiba) in bank 0.
The board has no video output but I know for sure that the video card and keyboard are working fine.
The ISA slots were kind of stiff so I used contact cleaner so it should loosen a bit.

1) Theres a exploded capacitor near the power connector,
2) clean the memory connector.. it's green

Thanks, i didn't really notice it, i just tested the MB and was puzzled why it didn't work.
What type of capacitor i need to use? Do i need to use a specific one?
I used BANK 0 that i checked that was okay, i guess that it could be just oxide as the motherboard is completely clean of battery acid, on both sides.

Just see what value is the others in the same place.. you can use a eletrolitic if more easy to buy. just make shure is the same capacitance or more and the same voltage or more and.... instal it withn the same polarity

BTW a lesser known use of laptop WiFi cards... some routers, not all that many, use them for the WiFi. So theoretically, you might be able to upgrade a 54G or 150N to 300N or something. Barely worth it though unless the one you are using is a favorite.