I was looking at some memory for an old BX chipset board. I always thought crucial memory was one of the best. But all their SDRAM is CAS3. I always thought CAS3 was slower than CAS2. Does it make that much of a difference? I was also looking at some Corsair memory that IS CAS2. Perhaps Crucial is over-rated? Anyone have any experience with Crucial?
CAS2 gives a 10% performance benefit. Not to worry- from experience I can tell you that almost all PC133 CAS3 will not only run at CAS2 133mhz, but also at 150mhz CAS 2-2-2-5. Real tight, teen pornstar timings.
I have a little collection of Crucial 128MB and 256MB CAS2 PC133 DIMMs. Apparently they don't sell it direct anymore but you can find it on ebay I'm sure.
You are right - you can get it on ebay - cheap! 😁
During my P3 slowdown project (disabling cache to simulate a 386) the CL speed made quite a difference. At CL1 you had a fast 386 but at CL3 it was noticeably slower.
So for such a project I would recommend CL1 memory and then you can choose the timing in BIOS and have some control over the speed.
I think the CL1 memory I have is from Infinion.
I don't think I've personally seen a BIOS that allows CL1. Which board u using?
One board I have that has this option is a VIA chipset board. uATX with support for the P4 Tualatin 1.4 GHz and a single ISA slot.
My most modern board with an ISA slot.
My 440BX board is a Giabbyte one and I admit I can't remember the CL options for this one.
But I do remember reporting on the CL options and the impact it made during my "time-machine project". It's somewhere on VOGONS 😀
I two sticks of Crucial CAS2 PC133 for $0.99 (that's right, 99 cents) 😁 😁 😁
Nice work!
I forgot where I read it here - but the nice thing about building a computer retro is that you can get it for, what, probably 1/5 the original price or less.
wrote:I forgot where I read it here - but the nice thing about building a computer retro is that you can get it for, what, probably 1/5 the original price or less.
I aim for 1/10th or less or free! 😉 . Though some parts are unavoidably expensive.
It seems like all I have to do is ask around with my friends and I can usually wind up with something.
