Re: Optiplex GX300 Memory

William R. Walsh wrote:
Hi!

I have a Dell Optiplex GX300 with 128MB memory. There are two
sockets, and the second socket seems to have a dummy module.

I believe this is a sort of electrical terminator, and any RAMBUS system
with unused memory sockets will have them. It is probably worth hanging on
to, in case you later need to get back to the stock memory config, or
isolate a module for testing.

1) The first socket module says 128MB/8D NON ECC. I guess I can
just put another 128mb module in the second socket. Can I put a
256MB module in the second socket, or do the sockets have to
be matched?

You could put another matched module in the vacant socket.

As far as I know, RDRAM systems can handle mismatched memory. I've got a
Dell Precision 220 Workstation running with 512MB in one socket and 256 in
another. Checking the service tag says it was configured that way from the
factory. It has an i820 chipset.

2) Rambus RIMM memory seems to still be available. I've poked
around a bit online and found 128mb at around $40 and 256MB
around $60. Does that sound reasonable?

The first thing you learn about RDRAM is that it isn't really priced at a
"reasonable" level unless you find some spectacular deal. Both prices almost
certainly exceed the current value of your system. I would like to take the
P220 up to its maximum 1GB of RDRAM, but I won't pay the price.

3) Any recommendations for a memory vendor? Or ones to avoid?
Crucial is a name that comes to mind, but they don't seem to carry it.

I don't know if "new" RDRAM or RIMMs are still being manufactured or not.
RAMBUS is still in business, although they seem to act primarily as a
"patent troll" any more. You're likely to be shopping the used market, be it
eBay or some online store. The best thing to do in that case is to put the
vendor's name in a web search or read a lot of the seller's feedback and ID
history.

I would start with the operator's manual for the computer. It has some good
information on what kind of RDRAM you will require.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx300/en/ug/memory.htm

This was my daughter's college computer, bought in fall 2000. It
survived 4 years of college, plus a couple of years more until she got
married. Looks like I added 80GB drive for her at some point.
Fired it up today and the date and time were still correct, but Win 98—
ugh!.

I have two close cousins of your computer--the already mentioned Precision
220 and an OptiPlex GX170 (given to me by a co-worker and thankfully free of
RDRAM!). They are both very well built, and even the plastic moldings for
the case were done in Round Rock, TX. Looks like Dell really did assemble
them at their headquarters or very close to. I bought the P220 on eBay and
it's a big old screamer of a dual PIII processor thing that benchmarks
better than some single 2.4GHz P4 systems. The GX170 was full of badly
wrecked software and really came around when I wiped the disk and started
anew. I'm impressed with both.

William



P3 RDRAM systems with the 820 chipset can handle two different mismatched RAMBUS modules. P4 RDRAM systems require exact matched pairs, altho in a pinch, one can match the specs of two sticks from different manufacturers.

AFAIK, RAMBUS memory for personal computers is no longer being manufactured. The newest I ever handled had a manufacturing date some time in 2005.

The 128MB in the GX300 may be either the slowest PC600 or slightly faster PC711, rather than the PC800 (or even PC1066) found in most P4 RDRAM systems. PC600 and PC711 really are dirt cheap because the demand is so low for them. If the OP can determine the speed of the memory in the GX300 (either from the BIOS settings or from an examination of the label on the memory stick itself), I can probably dig up a working 256MB stick, PC600 or PC711, for very cheap.

Also in the P3 systems, RAMBUS memory SPEEDS can be mismatched, as long as both sticks meet the minimum speed requirement for the motherboard. The motherboard makes the faster memory run at the slower speed, which it is entirely capable of doing. In this respect, RAMBUS is like SDRAM, DDR and DDR2... Ben Myers
.

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