VOGONS


First post, by tegrady

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I have a Dell Optiplex GX Pro. It uses 168 pin EDO Ram. I have a bunch of EDO ram laying around, but they are all the 72 pin variety. I didn't realize there was 168 pin EDO ram until recently.

I originally thought my Dell used SDRAM because the slot is exactly the same size as am SDRAM slot.

Will SDRAM work in this system? I'm finding conflicting info online. Some say that the SDRAM will work and others say it will fry the board.

Does anyone know for sure if it will work or not?

168 pin EDO ram seems to be fairly hard to find.

Thanks.

Reply 1 of 6, by The Serpent Rider

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Memory controller must know how to work with SDRAM. Which chipset we're talking about? If it's 440FX - no, it won't work.

168 pin EDO ram seems to be fairly hard to find.

Workstations modules, with different notch placement (compared to SDRAM) are relatively easy to find. You probably can mod it by scrubbing off excess PCB, if correct notch placement for EDO DIMM is not on motherboard already.

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Reply 2 of 6, by Tetrium

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tegrady wrote on 2021-11-01, 14:34:
I have a Dell Optiplex GX Pro. It uses 168 pin EDO Ram. I have a bunch of EDO ram laying around, but they are all the 72 pin v […]
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I have a Dell Optiplex GX Pro. It uses 168 pin EDO Ram. I have a bunch of EDO ram laying around, but they are all the 72 pin variety. I didn't realize there was 168 pin EDO ram until recently.

I originally thought my Dell used SDRAM because the slot is exactly the same size as am SDRAM slot.

Will SDRAM work in this system? I'm finding conflicting info online. Some say that the SDRAM will work and others say it will fry the board.

Does anyone know for sure if it will work or not?

168 pin EDO ram seems to be fairly hard to find.

Thanks.

Have you made sure that the DIMM slots are also keyed exactly the same as SDRAM?
I remember some EDO DIMMs I seen were keyed differently (the notches are on different locations). I have no idea where I got those modules from and can't say what your system would need.

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Reply 3 of 6, by The Serpent Rider

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(the notches are on different locations)

Only one notch in different location.

I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.

Reply 4 of 6, by tegrady

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Tetrium wrote on 2021-11-01, 14:54:
tegrady wrote on 2021-11-01, 14:34:
I have a Dell Optiplex GX Pro. It uses 168 pin EDO Ram. I have a bunch of EDO ram laying around, but they are all the 72 pin v […]
Show full quote

I have a Dell Optiplex GX Pro. It uses 168 pin EDO Ram. I have a bunch of EDO ram laying around, but they are all the 72 pin variety. I didn't realize there was 168 pin EDO ram until recently.

I originally thought my Dell used SDRAM because the slot is exactly the same size as am SDRAM slot.

Will SDRAM work in this system? I'm finding conflicting info online. Some say that the SDRAM will work and others say it will fry the board.

Does anyone know for sure if it will work or not?

168 pin EDO ram seems to be fairly hard to find.

Thanks.

Have you made sure that the DIMM slots are also keyed exactly the same as SDRAM?
I remember some EDO DIMMs I seen were keyed differently (the notches are on different locations). I have no idea where I got those modules from and can't say what your system would need.

I held the one stick of 168 pin EDO RAM I have up to my SDRAM stick and they appear identical. Same number of pins and the notch is in exactly the same spot.

Reply 5 of 6, by tegrady

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The Serpent Rider wrote on 2021-11-01, 14:39:

Memory controller must know how to work with SDRAM. Which chipset we're talking about? If it's 440FX - no, it won't work.

168 pin EDO ram seems to be fairly hard to find.

Workstations modules, with different notch placement (compared to SDRAM) are relatively easy to find. You probably can mod it by scrubbing off excess PCB, if correct notch placement for EDO DIMM is not on motherboard already.

Yes. It's a 440fx motherboard.

Reply 6 of 6, by ajacocks

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The difference isn't obvious, but it is there. I have a Pentium Pro board, in an IBM PC 365, that takes only 3.3v EDO 168 pin DIMMs. It's the same RAM that Apple Power Mac 4400s take, so you can look for that.

- Alex