Motherboard Ram

[helpme!]

Hi, i was wondering if i bought a motherboard (socket 478) to replace my old one will my old Ram sticks still fit into the new motherboard?
i currently have a socket 478 motherboard but want a new one as it is very worn out! but do not want to replace my proccessor.
thanks all your advise is very welcome :cheesy:

[vicec64]

Hi, i was wondering if i bought a motherboard (socket 478) to replace my old one will my old Ram sticks still fit into the new motherboard?
i currently have a socket 478 motherboard but want a new one as it is very worn out! but do not want to replace my proccessor.
thanks all your advise is very welcome :cheesy:

Just make sure if you have a S478 mainboard that is using SDR ram (single data rate) that you get another one with SDR *if* you still want to use your existing memory sticks, but if i were you even if you do have an SDR board i would get some DDR memory and just swap the processor out. If you have anything lower than a 2.4 Ghz P4 I would just get a new setup altogether if your concerned about speed in gaming. I fyou have DDR memory now you can get a cheap mobo CPU combo deal at Fry's (for instance) like an A64 3000/ECS NF3 that will outperform anything lower than a P4 3.0 easily and even if you only have PC 2100 DDR now you can run async with a divider and take virtually no performance hit. but that combo that i mentioned will only be good if you have an existing AGP card that you are satisfied with. You can also get S939 A64 PCIe combos too.

If you really just don't want to replace your processor as you said you need to find out what type of video card you have now (unless you are using IGP) and what type of memory you have and what type of P4 processor you currently have (eg P4a 1.6 @ 400 fsb or P4c 2.8 @ 800 fsb) then go from there and pick a mainboard that is compatible.

[nizzy1115]

If you have single channel memory right now, and you get a duel channel board, your new board will recognize your configuration automatically and put your rig to single channel memory.

However, i dont know why you would just want to replace a motherboard because it is "worn out". What do you mean by this?

[vicec64]

Hi Dizzy. The problem with that is that if he already and *only* has the single channel sticks you can't just use them on a dual channel board because they're not going to fit. The board would have to have to physically have the single channel slots in order for them to work. Not only that, but the board would have to be compatible with the processor and the memory interface. There are very few boards that were put out that had slots for both DDR ram and SDR ram both on the same board - like the AMD K7 ECS K7S5A motherboard.

[nizzy1115]

You are talking a difference between SDRAM and DDRRAM. All SDRAM is single channel, but some DDRRAM is single channel, while other is dual channel. If he has single channel DDRRAM, it will work in a new board regardless if it is a single channel or dual channel board. I believe all pentium 4 boards only use DDRRAM. Granted it maybe PC2100 speed, it still will work. So there should be no problem.

And btw, im not dizzy...

[nizzy1115]

If you want to be 100% sure, download CPUZ from the attachment i put below, and in there it will tell you what kind of memory you have currently. Report back as to what it says, and I will let you know if you will run into problems with a new board.

Also, remember that once you get a new board, you really should reinstall windows so you do not run into issues with chipset differences.

EDIT: For some reason, my upload of CPUZ isnt showing up here, so here is a link for the actual web page to get it from. http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-134.zip

[helpme!]

sorry for the huge delay of me posting (had lots of work on)
ive just identified my RAM as sdram, but ive changed my mind on getting a socket 478 motherboard. im opting for an lga775 socket motherboard with new processor maybe pentium D. have you any thoughts of a good motherboard with agp slot (8x) and a PCI-E slot (so i can upgrade in the furure) and that can hold 3-4 gigs of ram?

thanks for all your help any suggestions are welcome:cheesy:

[vicec64]

You are talking a difference between SDRAM and DDRRAM. All SDRAM is single channel, but some DDRRAM is single channel, while other is dual channel. If he has single channel DDRRAM, it will work in a new board regardless if it is a single channel or dual channel board.

DDR ram is not "dual channel". "Dual Channel" is a motherboard specification only. You mean to say that DDR sticks are "dual channal capable". There is also no such thing as "single channal DDR ram" as you noted above (you have backwards). DDR ram is simply twice the bandwidth/clock rate of SDR sticks. - hence DDR.

If he has single channel DDRRAM, it will work in a new board regardless if it is a single channel or dual channel board.

Let me put it correctly.

If he has DDR Ram modules it will work in a new board regardless if it's a single channel or dual channel board, but it will not work in a real SDR motherboard like a P4BLX that *only* takes actual SDR moldules (old school). If he has a DDR motherboard it will run PC2100 sticks fine yes, but some manual tweaking might be on order in the bios.

I believe all pentium 4 boards only use DDRRAM. Granted it maybe PC2100 speed, it still will work. So there should be no problem.
.

There were multitudes of SDR P4 boards made early in the P4 cycle. I ought to know since i installed them in my shop. Not that many but an example would be the Asus P4B or P4B-LX. Took a P4 and SDRAM only (not DDR ram)... actual SDR modules (EG PC133-100) not PC2100/2700/3200 etc..

There was only 1 board in all of existence that took both SDR and DDR modules on one board, That board would be the ECS K7S5A K7 AMD mainboard. I used to stock them.

[vicec64]

sorry for the huge delay of me posting (had lots of work on)
ive just identified my RAM as sdram, but ive changed my mind on getting a socket 478 motherboard. im opting for an lga775 socket motherboard with new processor maybe pentium D. have you any thoughts of a good motherboard with agp slot (8x) and a PCI-E slot (so i can upgrade in the furure) and that can hold 3-4 gigs of ram?

thanks for all your help any suggestions are welcome:cheesy:

http://www.asrockamerica.com/Products/775dual880p.htm