Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
All very interesting. Asus must have a very forward looking philosophy when
it comes to anticipating future memory compatibility. One of the reasons I
purchased the P4P800 board was it's 4GB memory maximum. But, when you go to
Asus's Qualified Vendor List, there are currently only five 1GB sticks
listed, and only one of them is DDR400. I would expect that to grow over
time, but I would rather buy two 1GB sticks now and have two open slots for
the future than to buy four 512MB sticks and have to toss half or all of
them in the future. It just looks like the motherboard is far ahead of the
memory compatibility (and perhaps it must be).
Dean Slindee
"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:nospam-0106041540150001@192.168.1.177...
> In article <10botuj9g3quba3@corp.supernews.com>, "Dean Slindee"
> <slindee@charter.net> wrote:
>
> > Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz Prescott FSB800 with Intel 865PE chipset. You
are
> > probably right about a memory mismatch with Intel as the memory was not
the
> > expensive type. However, neither was my old 512MB memory and it does
work
> > on this motherboard. See my other post from 6/1/2004 titled "P4P800 5
> > beeps" for the complete build picture.
> >
> > Perhaps getting some Kingston memory would solve both the memory and
beeps
> > problems?
> >
> > Dean Slindee
>
> The reason most 512MB modules work, is the most economical chips to
> do the job, just happen to also be the most likely kind to work.
> That is why, the lowest risk purchase you can make, is any ole
> 512MB double sided DIMM module. They are constructed with 32Mx8
> chips, and the x8 part is what makes them work. There are two
> banks of chips, 8 chips per bank, and that is more or less a
> standard loading.
>
> The 1GB modules can be constructed a number of ways, and whether
> they are all used in practice or not, I don't know. One way to
> do it, is use 16 devices, each of which is 128Mx4. This makes
> a single bank (64 bits wide), but it has twice the loading for
> the control signals. I don't remember all the details, but I
> think there is some difference in refresh time, due to
> the 128M thing, and possibly an additional address bit is
> required on the multiplexed memory address bus. Some Northbridges
> will fail to work with this, due to a missing address bit,
> while others will fail, due to a lack of drive strength to
> work with the memory reliably. If the stick you purchased isn't
> registered, I'd suspect the former case, a lack of the
> necessary address bit.
>
> From the Northbridge datasheet, page 126
>
ftp://download.intel.com/design/chipsets/datashts/25252304.pdf
>
> "All standard 128-Mb, 256-Mb and 512-Mb technologies and addressing
> are supported for x16 and x8 devices."
>
> AFAIK, for x4 devices to be legal, they have to be put on registered
> modules. I don't think an unbuffered module is a valid configuration,
> and at least some parts of the memory industry respect the intent
> of having standards to design to.
>
> Kingston will sell you a module made with the more expensive
> 64Mx8 parts. That is what you are paying for, that and the
> continued obscurity of 1GB unbuffered modules.
>
> My cynical impression of companies selling DIMMs with x4 chips,
> is they make all their money from restocking fees, when customers
> return them. The company only has to keep one DIMM on the
> premises, and it keeps being shipped back and forth from
> customer to customer, earning the company a 15% restocking
> fee each time
>
> HTH,
> Paul
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