upgrading ram questions old computer

[brian5258]

my computer has simm ram slots and dimm slots. it currently has 2 simm ram chips and no dimms. if i were to add ram to it i would add dimm right? if i did that woud i have to take out the simms? it also says dram on the dimm slot, does that mean i have to use dram or can i put sdram in it? is dram still available? also how do i know how much ram my computer can take?

[crossedup]

The older ones that took SIMM's generally wouldnt take more than 128, unless youve gotten ahold of an old server.

You generally cannot mix the 2 differant kinds of RAM, they work differantly. One or the other.

You will have to identify the mobo for exact answers, im sure the manual can be located online somewhere.

You will need to know if it takes pc66 sdram or if it can take pc100. Those older systems can be fussy with new stuff

[brian5258]

so it can take sdram even though it says dram on the dimm slot? any tips on identifying the motherboard?

[crossedup]

Just look around on the motherboard itself, if it is on there it will be silkscreened somewhere, quite often near the PCI slots. The age mobo you are talking about, it should have something on it.

Could D/L AIDA32 as well, run it. It might get it for you, will get you closer anyway.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html

As for the RAM, identifying the mobo will give you all the answers. You will quite possibly need to do that eventually anyway for drivers and BIOS updates.

[brian5258]

thanks but as of right now i can't boot the computer up, it needs a new hard drive. as far as identifying the motherboard, what sort of names should i look for? i see intel on it a few times, and socket 7 which i believe is the type of processor socket if that helps any

[brian5258]

On the motherboard i see UMC on a few black chips, Intel on a few, Award Software Inc. on a holographic thing, and SMC near my pci slots.

[crossedup]

Dont need the name off any off the chips, there should be a name on the motherboard itself. Well, hopefully there is a name.

Sometimes there is a white barcode type deal on the right side. Thats usually an Intel board and the numbers will identify it on Intels site