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K7D memory compatibility

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First post, by ratfink

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Oldbie

Been playing with an MSI K7D, dual Athlon MP board. It has 4 DIMM slots and takes up to 4GB ECC ram.

I have 4 512mb sticks, 2 pairs of each brand. I can only get 1 pair of sticks to work at a time. Mixing the types [one of each or two of each] means it won't boot. Either pair will work in either set of siots. Both are PC2100 ECC CL2.5 according to the labels. One pair has chips on only one side of the PCB, the other pair has chips on both sides.

I've been thinking of upgrading to 4x 1gb sticks, do I just have to ensure they are PC2100 ECC and all the same brand/model or is there likely to be more to it than that?

Reply 1 of 1, by obobskivich

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Rank l33t
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l33t

It shouldn't care what "brand" the RAM is, what it's likely having issues with is the double-density vs single-density DIMMs you're giving it currently (that's the only thing that comes to mind at the moment; maybe someone else has more insight though). If there's some other variable that's changed between the two kits you have, that might also be what's causing it to have problems (I know, vague).

That said, if you're going out to buy 4GB of RAM as-new, it shouldn't be too hard to get 4 of the same exact model which should mean fewer/no problems with compatibility.