Lo-ResBros wrote:ok I think I get it now 🤣
I bought a 128MB stick PC66 since it was cheap and thought it might work, but since it has 16 chips and is a 128MB stick, then I’m guessing the 16 chips are 64MB so while it might work, it will only detect 1/4 of it and I’ll be left with 32MB. the chips on the stick say “MT48LC8MA2TG” on them which I looked up are 8 meg x 8 (64).
I’ll have to look harder for some better sticks but thanks to you guys I have a better idea what to look for
You're mixing up your capitalization, i.e. your bits and Bytes - that's a surefire way to get confused.
1B=8b, DIMM sizes are measured in (kilo/Mega/Giga)Bytes, but chip densities (=size) are mesured in (kilo/Mega/Giga)bits.
128MByte with 16 chips has 8MByte chips (128/16=8). 8MByte=64Mbit (8x8=64). So yes, if your RAM controller can handle max 8Mbit, it will register as 32MByte.
In this case the specs are useful, 8Mx8 tells you both the chip width (8 bits) and the density (8x8=64Mbits). One bank is 64b wide, so on a DIMM you need 8 of these for a single bank ("single-sided" DIMM) or 16 for two banks ("double-sided"). Note that those terms are slightly misleading - it's entirely possible to have a single-sided DIMM with chips on both sides, just as you can have double-sided DIMMs with chips on only a single side.
If you get into the habit of being consistent and accurate with b&B, it all falls into place.